By Chrisleen Herard
Special to the AFRO
Just one day before Niami Liggon was ready to begin her first day of school at Thomas Stone High School, she was fatally stabbed to death by another 16-year-old girl outside a McDonald’s restaurant early Sunday morning.
On Aug. 27, after 2:00 a.m., authorities responded to a call from Howard University Hospital (HUH) where a teenage girl was suffering from multiple stab wounds in the abdomen and torso after arriving from the scene in a privately owned vehicle.
Sitting on the busy nightlife intersection on 14th and U Street is the 24-hour fast food restaurant where the incident occurred. Liggon and her friends went to an Oxon Hill recreation center and a party in D.C. before heading to McDonalds when an altercation allegedly broke out among three girls over sweet and sour sauce, among them was Liggon and the 16-year-old suspect.
MPD Det. Brendan Jasper testified at a hearing in D.C. Superior Court on Monday that camera footage caught Liggon and another girl assaulting the suspect in the midst of the argument. The suspect reportedly did not fight back at the time but would later claim the stabbing was in self-defense.
It wouldn’t be until Liggon and her friend were attempting to get into their car when the 16-year-old pulled out a 7 ½-inch pocket knife and left two stab wounds in Liggon’s chest and abdomen.
Hours after Liggon was pronounced dead at HUH, officials found the 16-year-old with a knife on her person, then arrested and later charged her with carrying a dangerous weapon, aggravated and felony assault, assault with the intent to kill and second-degree murder while being armed. It was later revealed that both the victim and suspect are from Waldorf, Md.
Crime in D.C. has increased in the past year by more than 5,000 incidents citywide, assault with a deadly weapon reaching almost 1,000 of the 22,000 crimes that have been reported. Furthermore, since January, there have been over 1,000 juvenile arrests in the District from simple theft and carjacking to robbery and second-degree assault.
As part of efforts to help reduce juvenile crime in D.C., a curfew has been issued for those under the age of 17 in certain areas, including the U Street entertainment strip, and is expected to go into effect on Sept. 1, the same day the next court hearing has been set for the 16-year-old suspect.
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