MINNEAPOLIS — A 16-year-old boy was charged Tuesday with murder on allegations that he stabbed a fellow student last week in St. Paul Harding High following a hallway fight during a break between classes, while administrators and police reexamine security at the district's largest schools.
Nosakhere K. Holmes was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree unintentional murder in connection with the killing shortly before noon Friday of 15-year-old Devin Denelle Edward Scott, who was attending Harding on Friday, the 10th-grader's first day at the school after transferring from St. Paul Humboldt High School.
Holmes was charged by petition in juvenile court. The County Attorney's Office indicated its intention to have the teenager's case moved to adult court, where a conviction would likely bring a longer sentence.
St. Paul School officials said Harding High School would remain closed Wednesday and Thursday as the school community "continues to process the traumatic death..." Classes will resume Friday with a modified schedule and early release.
Holmes was arrested moments after the stabbing at the school in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, and a bloodied folding knife with a 4-inch blade was confiscated from a pants pocket while he was detained in the school office, the charging document read.
Scott was stabbed twice after school personnel broke up the fight and while Scott was walking backward away from Holmes, according to the court filing.
One of the security staffers who subdued Holmes quoted the teenager as saying just before the apprehension that "they jumped me, they jumped me," the petition read.
Scott's mother, Eniesha Hammond, said Tuesday that "our family is in mourning, and we appreciate the community and everyone who is mourning for us."
Holmes made a juvenile court appearance in a Zoom meeting Tuesday afternoon, which his father and mother attended. His father, Ambakisye Holmes, fought back tears while telling the judge he hopes his son is released home.
"My baby has never been away from me, his brothers or sisters, he's not a bad child at all," he said.
The 16-year-old appeared from a juvenile detention room and did not express much emotion until the end of the hearing, using tissues to wipe tears away. Judge JaPaul Harris ordered that Holmes remain held at the juvenile detention center until his next hearing on March 15.
Holmes' attorney, Cara Gilbert, told the Star Tribune that "all kids deserve to feel safe at school," and that it's too early for her to comment on the details of the police reports and the complaint.
The charge against Holmes is based on school surveillance video and accounts given to police from an assistant principal who intervened during the fight and a staff member. However, the filing fails to offer a possible motive for the killing.
"Too often, our young people resort to force and violence to resolve conflict, resulting in tragic loss for everyone involved," County Attorney John Choi said in a statement he released along with the petition. "We need to redouble our efforts to help youth, their families, and our community to address violence involving our young people."
St. Paul Public Schools cut ties with school resource officers, also known as SROs, in 2020 as part of the fallout that followed George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police. They were replaced with 38 school liaisons who are not armed but carry pepper spray and handcuffs. The charge comes one day after St. Paul Public Schools announced short-term security changes for some of the district's largest high schools in partnership with police.
They include:
A third full-time school support liaison will be added to Harding's existing security team.
Two St. Paul police officers will be added on a short-term basis at Central, Como Park, Harding, Humboldt and Washington Technology Magnet high schools. The move was requested by Superintendent Joe Gothard, according to an email to district staff Monday afternoon from Laura Olson, director of the office of security and emergency management.
At a news conference to discuss enhanced security Tuesday, school Superintendent Joe Gothard said there is "no quick solution" to safety concerns across the district but added he's open to discuss adding school resource officers (SRO) with new roles.
"It's my expectation and my desire to sit down with all of our partners, the Office of Neighborhood Safety, St. Paul Police Department, and see if we can redefine what a formal partnership looks like," Gothard said. "So if that's SRO with a new name, or if that's some of what worked really well and some of the changes that all parties have agreed to, I'm willing to have that conversation."
Police officers will be stationed outside those five high schools for the rest of the week. In the meantime, Police Chief Axel Henry said, his department is working with the Office of Neighborhood Safety and the school district to create a partnership model to improve safety.
Henry offered no specifics about that model, but said it would likely involve the department's ASPIRE (A St. Paul Intervention & Recovery Effort) unit — a team that partners with the city and community organizations to help crime victims.
"The old model was a different environment then. … The current model, obviously, is something that we need to improve. So we're going to build that future model," Henry said. "We will have assistance and we stand ready to help 24/7 as long as the school district needs it to create that time so we can have those conversations about creating what that new future looks like."
According to Tuesday's juvenile petition:
Scott and another student were walking in a hallway, where they encountered Holmes, who began "having words" with Scott. Holmes squared up with Scott as they continued talking to each other.
Holmes and Scott started fighting, and a student who with Scott tackled Holmes to the floor. Scott and the other student were punching Holmes as he tried to get to his feet.
The staffer intervened and grabbed Scott as an assistant principal pulled away the other student punching Holmes.
Holmes walked toward Scott, who was retreating, and swung the knife at least twice. The knife hit Scott in the heart with a slicing motion, and then the waist with a straight jab.
Two security staff members put Holmes to the floor but not without a brief struggle as they handcuffed him.
The staff member escorted Scott to the nurse's office. Scott said he was dizzy and collapsed. Lifesaving measures were started by school staff before Fire Department medics took over and transported him to Regions Hospital, where he died soon afterward.
Asked whether Scott's death is the first time a student was killed on St. Paul's school grounds, district spokesperson Ryan Stanzel answered his office is "not aware of other incidents of this nature happening in an SPPS school."
At Tuesday's news conference, Mayor Melvin Carter said the city is committed to ensuring something like this doesn't happen again.
"No parent should ever have to bury their child. That is one of the most horrific possibilities imaginable," Carter said. "We know that we have work to do to ensure that we're taking every step possible to ensure that we never have to endure this hardship, this trauma, ever again in our community."
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