Sentencing rescheduled in fatal attack on Joyner-Francis

A sentencing for two teenagers found guilty in connection with the death of 16-year-old Amy Inita Joyner-Francis has been rescheduled.

Trinity Carr and Zion Snow, both 17, were set to appear in Family Court in Wilmington on Tuesday, but the hearings were moved back to June 5 at 9 a.m.

Judge Robert B. Coonin found Carr delinquent – a term used when a juvenile is found guilty – of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree conspiracy in April.

Snow was found delinquent of third-degree conspiracy.

In June, Coonin will weigh the severity of the crime and the teens' past history before he determines a sentence.

The sentencing hearing will come more than a year after a fight in a bathroom at Howard High School of Technology left Joyner-Francis dead.

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During a bench trial, prosecutors accused Carr, Snow and Chakiera Wright of planning the confrontation in the 20 hours before the attack. Wright was found not delinquent after Coonin said there was insufficient evidence to show she participated in the plan.

At the center of the prosecution's case was cellphone video of the April 21, 2016, assault. The video shows Carr dragging Joyner-Francis by her long, braided hair through a handicap-accessible stall in the bathroom. Carr swings her arms and lands punches onto the head and torso of Joyner-Francis, who was on the floor clutching her purse.

The fight exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition in Joyner-Francis, leading to her death, according to testimony from the state Medical Examiner's Office.

During the trial, the attorneys litigated questions such as what a “reasonable” person should expect as a result of a fight, what type of clothing is worn by kids preparing to fight, and whether Joyner-Francis was a participant in the fight.

Coonin, in his ruling, said high school students should know that a fight could result in serious injury. Carr's failure to perceive the risk assumed in the attack constituted a "gross deviation" from the standard of conduct of her peers, he said.

"The attack ... posed a risk of potential catastrophic physical harm including death by virtue of the tile floor, walls and fixtures," Coonin said. "Had a death resulted from internal bleeding after striking her head on the floor, would that result in any way change the risk that the assault itself created?"

Furthermore, evidence presented during trial – including threatening messages posted by Snow on social media saying “we gonna get her” – demonstrated Carr and Snow were planning to attack Joyner-Francis, Coonin said.

Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at 302-324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @jessicamasulli.