by
Detroiters Lacara Anita Parks, 37, and her 13-year-old daughter face charges in connection with the non-fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old girl. Both girls are in eighth grade at Gompers Elementary/Middle School on Burt Road on Detroit's west side.
Authorities allege that on Oct. 8, Parks gave her daughter a pocketknife on school grounds for protection on the way home from school.
Shortly afterward, authorities say the daughter stabbed the victim multiple times, wounding her.
WXYZ reports that bullying may have been an underlying issue in the dispute, and that the mother who brought the knife to school set off a security detector but was not searched before she proceeded to give her daughter the weapon.
The daughter, who is being charged as a juvenile, faces charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and possession of a weapon in a weapons-free school zone. She was given a $10,000 cash/surety bond, meaning she can either post that amount or pay a fee to a bail agent for the $10,000 bond.
The girl has been ordered to have no contact with the victim, to possess no knives, and to have no contact with Gompers students. A pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 5.
Her mother has been charged with two misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of a weapon in a weapons-free school zone. She is set to be arraigned Wednesday in Detroit’s 36th District Court.
“This case illustrates that a lot of things went wrong on many levels and, as a result, a child was stabbed. It’s unacceptable. We can do so much better than this for our children,” said Prosecutor Kym Worthy in a statement.
