13-year-old girl charged with murder after stabbing friend during sleepover

FORT WORTH, Texas - Police have charged a 13-year-old suspect with murder for the stabbing death of a Fort Worth teenager.

Nylah Lightfoot, 14. was stabbed Tuesday morning at an apartment complex on Peyton Lane in South Fort Worth.

Family members say Nylah was spending the night at the suspect's house and they got into an argument. The female suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed Nylah several times, police said.

Nylah was taken to the hospital but did not survive. The medical examiner said she died from a stab wound to her neck and chest.

Fort Worth police are not identifying the suspect since she is a minor. She only wore handcuffs when she made her initial appearance before a judge on Thursday. They were attached to a belt that was secured around her waist.

The judge ruled the 13-year-old would not be released to her parents or anyone else and she will stay in juvenile detention.

Anntoinette Carter says her daughter and the 13-year-old murder suspect were on and off friends. She says the 13-year-old wanted to spend the night with Nylah. When Carter said no, the friend insisted Nylah come over and get clothes she'd left at the suspect's apartment.

“My baby was the sweetest little girl here. She didn't bother nobody,” Carter said. “ She made straight As. She was friends with everybody."

Carter became emotional as she described a confrontation that turned into a physical fight between the two teenage girls.

“She whooped you. You should have accepted it,” the mother said. “No, you had to go back in the house and get a knife and stab and kill my baby. Now, I'm daughterless. My heart feels like it's been ripped out and stomped on."

The parents of the 13-year-old were at the detention hearing but didn't want to talk.

Trent Loftin is a juvenile court attorney not associated with this case. He says because the girl is 13, she cannot be certified as an adult.

“At the age of 13 years old, you're within the parameters you can definitely be sentenced to prison for a long time,” he explained.

Nylah’s grandfather, Dwight Roberts, says this has devastated his family.

“Tore it up,” he said. “But it brings you together. Know what we need to do. This is a wakeup call for everybody."

“She didn't give me no problems. She was my backbone,” Carter said. “She helped me with everything. For her to do this to her, it's just wrong."

The attorney for the 13-year-old isn't ready to comment on camera but says eventually this case will have to go to a grand jury as part of the legal process.

According to the Crowley Independent School District, Nylah had just finished her eighth-grade year at H.F. Stevens Middle School. Classes ended Friday for summer vacation.