When her 9-year-old brother was dying from the stabbing she admittedly perpetrated, a 12-year-old Oklahoma girl sobbedly told officers in the back of a patrol car earlier this year, “I don’t know why I did it.”
Just before midnight on January 5, a deadly incident happened at an apartment in the St. Thomas Square neighborhood of downtown Tulsa, according to the Tulsa Police Department.
This week, Law&Crime was able to get unique body-worn camera footage of the events following the stabbing of the 9-year-old and the detention of his 12-year-old sister by Tulsa police.
“Officers learned the children’s parent was upstairs asleep when the 12-year-old daughter woke the parent up and said that she had stabbed her 9-year-old brother,” police wrote on Jan. 6.
READ MORE: Kaye Abad Accident: Filipino-American Actress Killed Death Hoax Debunked
The footage begins with the 12-year-old girl, who is not being identified by her full name, coming down the stairs.
“I’m so sorry,” she shouts through tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Seconds later, April Lyda nearly bounds out the door, screaming and beside herself at what one child did to another.
“There’s stab wounds. In the chest,” Lyda tells her daughter, who repetitively apologizes. “You better pray to God he f–––––– lives.”
After being taken to the hospital and after surgery, Zander Lyda passed away from his wounds around 2:30 the next morning.
A GoFundMe for the horror-stricken family, started by a friend who considers April Lyda, her sister, offers testimony about both children.
“Her daughter was a well-behaved child with no prior history of behavioral problems,” Jennifer Anthamatten wrote on the fundraiser. “Her son Zander was the sweetest boy who had the biggest smile, he loved to ride his bike, play Fortnite, hang out with his best friend or just run errands with his mom. He loved spending time with his dad & grandma, going on trips with his family, and his favorite places was sky zone, incredible pizza and the children’s museum. His favorite foods were cheese pizza, tacos and chocolate ice cream. He was a amazing son who would always do what he was told, without hesitation, he wanted to make his mom proud, he loved his sister and brother very much and he will be missed every second of every single day.”
As the video goes on, the 12-year-old girl in custody ultimately directs authorities to the attack’s knife. She explains that after she was finished, she flung it out of her second-floor window.
“You used a knife?” April Lyda asks, appearing again and raising her hands in desperation in the doorway, as her daughter explains.
“I’m so f–––––– sorry, momma,” the 12-year-old shouts in response. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened.”
“I’ve gotta go with him,” the boy’s mother cries.
“I’m so sorry,” the girl says again, raising her face to the officer who has her detained. “I don’t know what the f––– happened. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened.”
The girl says she does and takes off her hoodie when asked whether she has any cuts on her body. The majority of the cuts on her arms, says the officer, “look old.” Before putting her hoodie back on, he sees one wound that appears to be fresher but notes that it is not bleeding.
The girl keeps saying she’s going to jail and asking if she’s going to jail while in the cop car. The officer alternates between reassuring her that it’s too early to tell and that she won’t be arrested.
“I ruined my life,” the girl says in the car. “I ruined my whole future.”
The officer tells her nothing is ruined.
“It’s all my fault,” she cries.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” the officer reassures her.
The 12-year-old tells a tale about how her math instructor’s extended absence for cancer treatment made her appreciate math more when she saw her teacher again while she is riding in the back of the patrol car. The cop in the driver’s seat pays close attention.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m going to jail for the rest of my life,” the girl whispers, crying, in prayer at one point. “And, I’m so sorry, God, please help me. What the f–––. Please. F–––––– please.”
The footage is highly edited and skips around.
“I just want to wake up from this nightmare,” she says at one point.
Despite the officer’s efforts to allay her concerns, the girl sounds convinced she will go to jail. Read more full story.