Atlanta teen mom stabbed to death while trying to defend her 14-year-old sister against bullies
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: A 19-year-old woman was stabbed to death while defending her younger sister from a group of bullies, their heartbroken mother has said.
Alfonza Simmons said she witnessed 14-year-old Jashaunte Marshall stab her elder daughter Ta'Lela Fontia Stevenson, near their Atlanta-area home on September 1. The suspect also attacked and injured 18-year-old Gary Banks.
The police responded to the scene around 7 p.m. to find a female victim with a stab wound to the neck and a male victim with one to the arm. Banks was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries but Stevenson, who had given birth to a baby girl less than a month ago, died at Grady Hospital.
The authorities saidthere was an ongoing dispute between two families in the neighborhood and on September 1, a fight broke out between several girls outside the victim's residence in the driveway.
Simmons told WSB-TV that three girls were bullying her 14-year-old daughter. "She came home and told her sisters, and they just came out to say, 'Leave her alone,'" she said.
It was during the confrontation between the bullies and the teen's sister that Stevenson was fatally stabbed.
"They were all right here in front of my house," Simmons said. "I'm, like, 'Y'all need to move,' but they just lashed out and my daughter was standing right here and the girl ran around and attacked my daughter."
The suspect fled the scene after attacking the two individuals. She was later arrested and charged with felony murder.
The grieving mother said her elder daughter had graduated high school a year ago and was accepted into an Atlanta Technical College nursing program. "She was a bright young lady looking to get ready to make a future for herself," Simmons said. "It's wrong and it's cruel and it wasn't worth it. It wasn't."
She directed the following message for her daughter's killer: "You took Ta'Lela Fontia Stevenson's life. You took my child from me for no reason. We don't even know your name."
A GoFundMe was set up by Stevenson's sister, Tamya, to cover the victim's funeral expenses. By September 4, the fundraiser had reached a little over $1000 of its $10,000 goal.
"Talela had just begin (sic) her journey into motherhood. Only for it to be taken away so soon for only trying to defend her younger sisters. Something that she stood so strong on. Talela despised confrontation and tried to avoid it at any means. She didn’t deserve to be taken away from us, her family, her loved (sic), our most prized possession was stolen out of our arms," the fundraiser said.