A Florida judge has ordered a 10-year-old girl accused of fatally shooting a woman fighting with her mom to remain in juvenile detention, despite the girl’s father tearfully begging the judge to release her. The 10-year-old Orlando girl appeared before a judge in juvenile court on Wednesday to face a charge of second-degree murder after she allegedly shot and killed a woman who was in a fight with her mother.
“I am going to do everything in my power to make sure my daughter gets all the help she needs,” the girl’s father, Dewan Dennis, told the judge in his plea to allow his daughter to stay at his home.
The young girl is accused of fatally shooting Lashun Rodgers, a 41-year-old woman who was fighting with the girl’s mother, Lakrisha Isaac, on Memorial Day. Orlando police said the girl’s mom, at one point during the fight, handed her daughter a bag with a gun in it. At some point, the girl then shot the woman twice, who later died.
An attorney for the girl asked that she be allowed to wear a GPS ankle bracelet so she could be monitored, rather than be locked up indefinitely. “She will be monitored 24/7. I understand the seriousness of the offense, but it was the adult that brought the gun,” her attorney said.
However, prosecutors contend the child is considered a threat to the public.
“While I understand her age is a component, we have to look at the nature of the offense and the charges that have been alleged and the facts that have been alleged for the community’s safety,” said Shannon Corack.
The judge ordered the girl to stay at the Juvenile Detention Center, where prosecutors believe she can get the help she needs. “Services can be put in place. They have even volunteers that can come and mentor the kids in JDC.”
On Tuesday, the girl was arrested by the State Attorney’s Office on a second-degree murder charge. The girl, whose identity was not revealed because of her age, is not being tried as an adult, though prosecutors were still figuring out how to move forward.
“We anticipate that whatever charges we eventually file if any, will ensure she receives the interventions necessary to address her behavior, help her change and grow, and ensure the public’s safety going forward,” said State Attorney Monique Worrell, adding that it was one of the “most tragic cases” she’d seen in her career.
Authorities said the girl shot Rodgers twice at an apartment complex on Mercy Drive. Isaac, the girl’s mother, was arrested on several charges, including manslaughter, aggravated assault with a firearm, and child neglect.
Based on online records, the girl could be one of the youngest people arrested on a murder charge in the Sunshine State’s history.
If formally charged and convicted, attorney Mike Panella, who is not involved in the case, said it could be problematic for the state’s juvenile justice system.
“If she is charged with second-degree murder, and put into an adult prison, that would be a problematic situation. We don’t have 20-30 year prisons set up for juveniles,” he said.
“No 10-year-old ever deserves to be treated as an adult in the criminal justice system,” said Catherine Jones of the Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth. “I personally went through that at the age of 13.”
Jones and her brother, Curtis Fairchild, were sentenced to 18 years in prison for second-degree murder back in 1999 for murdering their father’s girlfriend. She was 13 and her brother was 12. Jones said it was a traumatic experience and added that kids need to be treated with dignity.
“This child needs to be given the opportunity for trauma-informed healing, and she’s not gonna get that in an adult system.”
The next hearing is June 28.
