[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The 17-year-old high school honor roll student who stabbed her friend four times in a classroom Wednesday was laughing, smiling and saying "I'm going to kill you," as she chased the victim with a steak knife, Warren police say.
Tanaya L. Lewis, a senior at Warren's Fitzgerald High School, is now charged with first-degree premeditated murder and jailed without bond pending her trial.
The victim, 16-year-old Danyna Gibson, also a senior at Fitzgerald High School in Warren, suffered stab wounds to her chest and back. Her heart and lung were punctured, Warren Police Detective Donald Seidel said at the teen suspect's arraignment Friday, Sept. 14.
Lewis appeared in court via video feed from the Warren Police Department lockup facility Friday. She was expected to be transported to the Macomb County Jail after the arraignment.
Lewis, without warning, approached Gibson during class and stabbed her twice in the chest, Seidel said. Gibson tried to run from Lewis and was stabbed in the back, causing her to fall to the ground, at which time Lewis delivered a "hammer-fist punch stab" to Gibson's back as she lay on the ground, according to Seidel. The final wound pierced Gibson's lung.
"The defendant was pushed from the classroom by the teacher, the defendant then tried to get around the teacher to get back in the classroom, yelling, 'I'm going to kill her,'" the Warren police detective said. " ... Witnesses said (Lewis) was smiling and laughing as she was chasing the victim."
There were over 20 witnesses, according to the prosecution.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric B. Smith said there is adequate evidence to indicate Lewis came to school Wednesday morning with intentions to kill Gibson.
No clear motive had been provided, but police say it appears to have involved a dispute over a boy who also attends the high school. The girls, both honor roll students, were friends prior to the attack, investigators said.
"This was over something as simple as the victim being friends with a boy, and we're not talking about relationships or anything like it," Smith said. "This is the kind of high school stuff that every one of us has been through ... and the fact that it ended up this way is astounding to me.
" ... You know, our victim wasn't hanging out in the streets ... She was a great kid doing everything you want from your daughter."
Lewis "committed the most horrific crime there is," the prosecutor said.
Lewis' attorney, Mark Brown, declined to comment following the hearing.
Smith said the defendant's parents and the victim's stepfather attended the arraignment Friday, Sept. 14.
Lewis, wearing a white jumpsuit with short hair and frosted tips, showed little emotion and answered "yes," softly, when asked by Warren 37th District Judge Suzanne L. Faunce if she understood that, if convicted, she may spend the rest of her life in prison.
Faunce scheduled a probable cause hearing on Oct. 4.
Smith said the attack was so abrupt and unexpected that students, who are often quick to record dramatic events with their cellphones, didn't have time to capture the incident.
Fitzgerald High School students and staff held a vigil and balloon release in honor of Gibson Thursday, Sept. 13.
School administrators offered grief counseling to any students in need.
Supposedly killed this girl over a guy?!
Sweet Jesus! There are more fishes in the sea kiddos.
Subject: Teen was 'smiling and laughing' during fatal stabbing at Michigan school 
Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:37 pm
