Thursday, October 10, 2024 -The heartbroken father of a 7-year-old Michigan girl who was stabbed to death allegedly by her 13-year-old sister while being babysat last month is opening up about his late daughter.
In an interview with local TV
station WXYZ, Jason Lilburn remembered his late daughter, Jessie Jane
Lilburn, as someone who loved outdoor activities and playing with family.
“Little JJ, Jessie Jane. She was just a ray of sunshine, always wanted to be
outside, always riding her bike,” Lilburn told the outlet.
The 7-year-old died at a local hospital on
Sept. 28 after police officers responded to reports of a possible stabbing at a
home in Taylor, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, at around 1 p.m.
According to FOX 2 Detroit, authorities said
the girls’ parents left their 7-year-old and 13-year-old daughters home at
around 11:15 a.m. local time that day, and the older sister was
babysitting.
Detective Zachary DiGiacomo previously
alleged that the stabbing took place after an argument about a note that the
7-year-old left in the bathroom to "generally tell people to flush the
toilet."
DiGiacomo claimed that the girl’s 13-year-old sister took the note, and the 7-year-old "knocked over the trash can in the kitchen and trash got everywhere" while trying to get the note back.
The 13-year-old eventually went to her
bedroom and came down to stab her sister "about 30 minutes later" in
the bathroom with a "butcher-style knife," the detective
alleged.
According to DiGiacomo, the older sister then went to get a larger knife and
then stabbed her sister some more.
In total, the victim was stabbed more than
10 times, the detective claimed.
Lilburn told WXYZ that the sisters had “normal sibling arguments” and no
history of violence before the deadly incident, calling the killing, “totally
unexpected.”
“It really pulls at my heart that [Jessie’s] not with us anymore and that
there’s so much love for her,” Lilburn said of the memorial set up in front of
his house for his late daughter.
The 13-year-old, who allegedly called
911 after the stabbing, is now facing charges of first-degree premeditated
murder, felony murder and first-degree child abuse, the Wayne County Prosecutor's
Office said in a news release.
The teen, who is not being named because of
her age, was originally charged as a juvenile, but Prosecutor Kym Worthy added
the adult designation due to "other facts discovered in the case."
Being charged with adult designation does
not mean a minor is charged as an adult. However, if convicted, a judge can
decide to sentence the suspect as a juvenile, as an adult, or a combination of
the two. Also, if the suspect is sentenced as a minor and does not improve, the
judge can impose an adult sentence on her.
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