A Jennings teenager has admitted to manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy during a chaotic fight outside a local junior high, a confrontation caught on a flurry of cellphone and surveillance videos that left families and school staff stunned across the St. Louis suburbs.
The guilty plea was entered Monday in Clayton, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The outlet identified the defendant as Darnell Warner and reported that what began as a confrontation near the campus exploded into what it described as a "massive fight," documented on video and culminating in the deadly stabbing.
Where It Happened
The violence broke out near Rose Mary Johnson Jennings Junior High. Rose Mary Johnson Jennings Junior High lists its address as 8831 Cozens Ave. in Jennings, and coverage of the case has included images of a school bus passing the campus as the disturbance unfolded.
Legal Next Steps
Prosecutors offered the manslaughter charge as part of a plea deal, and the teen accepted, avoiding a trial and moving the case into the sentencing phase in St. Louis County court in Clayton, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. A sentencing date is expected to be set at a later hearing, when the court will also determine whether juvenile or adult penalties will apply.
