This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
On July 1, 2019, a grand jury indicted a gay teenager, Mr. Cedeno, on a manslaughter charge in connection with a fatal stabbing at his high school.
According to Mr. Lynn, Mr. Cedeno's lawyer, the teenager had been subjected to years of bullying before the incident. On the day of the stabbing, several students threw debris at Mr. Cedeno in class, which continued even after he returned from the bathroom.
Mr. Cedeno then grabbed his backpack and moved toward the door, but stopped and yelled, “Who is throwing these things at me and why?” Mr. McCree and Mr. Laboy moved towards him, and Mr. Cedeno drew a black-handled knife from his pocket as a warning.
Mr. McCree pushed a teacher out of the way and attacked Mr. Cedeno, Mr. Lynn said. Shavon Evelyn, a guidance counselor at the school, testified that moments after the attack, she saw Mr. Cedeno leaving the classroom with a closed knife in his hand.
Mr. Cedeno admitted to Ms. Evelyn that he had stabbed two people and later expressed remorse for his actions, saying, “I shouldn’t have done it, I went too far. I shouldn’t have done it, I went too far.”
