10-year-old girl dies in after school fight with 11-year-old - A 10-year-old girl in California has died following a pre-arranged after school fist fight with another girl a year older.
Joanna Ramos took part in the fight, which was watched by other pupils, after a disagreement with the other girl over a boy they both liked.
Students and parents walk past a memorial for student Joanna Ramos outside Willard Elementary School
She died from blunt force trauma in an incident that has caused horror among parents and school authorities.
Police said they were conducting a homicide investigation and have interviewed the 11-year-old girl. They will also speak to other children and investigate whether the two girls were goaded into fighting.
Officers said no arrests had been made and they did not yet know if there would be criminal charges, but they will present their findings to prosecutors. They will also examine Joanna's medical history.
The fight took place in an alley near Frances Willard Elementary School in Long Beach, California. According to witnesses it lasted about a minute and no weapons were involved.
Maggie Martinez, a classmate and friend of the victim, said: "They took off their backpacks, and they put their hair in a bun, and then that's when they said 'Go,' and that's when they started hitting each other."
She and other friends said they tried to stop the fight but were held back by boys who were watching and wanted it to continue. Police said they believe there were about seven onlookers.
The fight happened after school had ended and shortly before Joanna was due to go to an after-school programme. When it was over Joanna left and headed home but soon began felling unwell. Her aunt Celina Cervantes said: "All she kept saying was she had a headache."
She was unconscious by the time she arrived at hospital and underwent surgery for a blood clot on her brain.
Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the case, said punches to the head could lead to delayed bleeding if a vein was torn.
He said a blow to the head from one young girl to another could "absolutely" be sufficient to cause enough trauma to lead to death.
But he added: "This is rare in that I've never seen it in a female, certainly not in a female adolescent."
Joanna's mother, Cecilia Villanueva, 41, said classmates of her daughter had been banned from telling her what happened because of the police investigation.
She said: "We heard she was bleeding from the nose after the fight, that she was hit multiple times in the head by this other girl. We just don't know what happened."
A spokesman for the school said the other girl involved in the fight had not yet been disciplined. The spokesman said: "This is a difficult situation for all of us to understand. There are so many questions, but we have to be patient and let the police do its job." ( telegraph.co.uk )
Joanna Ramos took part in the fight, which was watched by other pupils, after a disagreement with the other girl over a boy they both liked.
Students and parents walk past a memorial for student Joanna Ramos outside Willard Elementary School
She died from blunt force trauma in an incident that has caused horror among parents and school authorities.
Police said they were conducting a homicide investigation and have interviewed the 11-year-old girl. They will also speak to other children and investigate whether the two girls were goaded into fighting.
Officers said no arrests had been made and they did not yet know if there would be criminal charges, but they will present their findings to prosecutors. They will also examine Joanna's medical history.
The fight took place in an alley near Frances Willard Elementary School in Long Beach, California. According to witnesses it lasted about a minute and no weapons were involved.
Maggie Martinez, a classmate and friend of the victim, said: "They took off their backpacks, and they put their hair in a bun, and then that's when they said 'Go,' and that's when they started hitting each other."
She and other friends said they tried to stop the fight but were held back by boys who were watching and wanted it to continue. Police said they believe there were about seven onlookers.
The fight happened after school had ended and shortly before Joanna was due to go to an after-school programme. When it was over Joanna left and headed home but soon began felling unwell. Her aunt Celina Cervantes said: "All she kept saying was she had a headache."
She was unconscious by the time she arrived at hospital and underwent surgery for a blood clot on her brain.
Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the case, said punches to the head could lead to delayed bleeding if a vein was torn.
He said a blow to the head from one young girl to another could "absolutely" be sufficient to cause enough trauma to lead to death.
But he added: "This is rare in that I've never seen it in a female, certainly not in a female adolescent."
Joanna's mother, Cecilia Villanueva, 41, said classmates of her daughter had been banned from telling her what happened because of the police investigation.
She said: "We heard she was bleeding from the nose after the fight, that she was hit multiple times in the head by this other girl. We just don't know what happened."
A spokesman for the school said the other girl involved in the fight had not yet been disciplined. The spokesman said: "This is a difficult situation for all of us to understand. There are so many questions, but we have to be patient and let the police do its job." ( telegraph.co.uk )
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