ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The teenager seen assaulting a classmate in a video that garnered national attention earlier this year was placed under court-supervised probation, the teenager's lawyer said.
Greg Smith, the lawyer for Maurnice Declue, said the case was "resolved" on June 20, resulting in Declue being released from juvenile detention after three months and placed on probation. Declue admitted to assaulting Kaylee Gain after the juvenile officer overseeing the case amended the charge to second-degree assault, Smith said.
Smith said bumping down the assault charge from first-degree to second-degree, focused on intent.
"I think she understood the situation, she understood and accepted responsibility for her own conduct," Smith shared. "We never believed she was guilty of assault in the first-degree. That’s knowingly causing serious physical injury suggesting that was her intent all along to cause those serious injuries. Under the situation she found herself in, she was acting under the influence of sudden passion."
Smith said his 15-year-old client is now home and has a deputy juvenile officer supervising her.
"She has certain conditions that she has to meet, counseling, she has a youth mentor, she has community service to complete," Smith added.
Declue will have to check in with the court every two weeks to track her progress.
Smith thinks this court supervision could be for another six months to a year.
He added his client is ready for the next school year.
"She’s a fantastic student, she said she wants to get back to school," Smith told 5 On Your Side.
A juvenile court judge ruled in May that the case would remain in the juvenile system, siding with a juvenile officer's recommendation that cited Declue's lack of a juvenile record.
Video of the assault showed Declue slam the back of Gains’ head against the concrete, which sent her into seizures.
Gain spent a month in the hospital followed by two weeks in a rehabilitation center. She is still undergoing physical and mental health therapy and will require at least one more surgery to return the portion of her skull doctors removed after her brain swelled, her lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer told 5 On Your Side in May.
Politicians, including Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, as well as people across the country called for Declue to be certified as an adult after the video surfaced.
Kaemmerer also called for Declue to be charged as an adult, citing a now-debunked social media post that 5 On Your Side verified as false as proof that she lacks remorse. 5 On Your Side verified DeClue was already in juvenile detention when a post that read, “Should I join MMA or WWE” next to a picture of the assault hit X. It was made by someone who misspelled her name, and she would not have had access to social media while in custody.
Kaemmerer later back-peddled on his remarks about the post.
Kaemmerer also confirmed Gain's mother did not drive her daughter to the March 8 fight despite rampant social media rumors that she did. Kaemmerer said his client's mother was at work and did not know about the fight.
Declue’s family members — who publicly identified her — have said she was the victim of bullying in the months leading up to the assault.
Gain had been suspended from the school the day before for fighting with a different girl.
During the May 10 hearing, the juvenile officer confirmed Gain threw the first punch during the March 8 incident.
5 On Your Side has reached out to Gain's lawyer but has not heard back as of this publication.