Nov 13, 2008 10:44 pm US/Eastern
Dillard Shooting Suspect Faces 1st Degree Murder
Police Report That Teah Wimberly Called 911 From A Restaurant Across From The School Saying She Shot Her Classmate
I-Team data shows school violence rising
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
-
-
Teah Wimberly, charged with first-degree murder, in a Ft.Lauderdale courtroom on Nov. 13th 2008.
CBS
The Ft. Lauderdale teen accused of gunning down her classmate in the halls of Dillard High will spend 21 days in juvenile detention and undergo a psychological exam.
Teah Wimberly, 15, was charged with first-degree murder on Thursday in a Broward courtroom in the death of 15-year-old classmate Amanda Collette.
The Broward State Attorney's Office has indicated that she will most likely be charged as an adult. To charge her with first degree murder as an adult, prosecutors must take their evidence to a grand jury and have them hand up an indictment.
About a dozen of Collette's family members, including her mother Joyce Collette, were in the courtroom when Wimberly appeared before Judge Elijah Williams. John Wimberly, the girl's grandfather and guardian, was also there.
During the brief hearing, Wimberly covered her face; her attorney, Gary Kollin, said she and her expressed their condolences to Collette's family.
"She's troubled and upset about the whole thing," Kollin said outside the courtroom, adding, "
she's grieving for the death of Amanda."
Using court records, CBS4 obtained photographs showing Wemberly with her father one year ago. Jevon Wemberly, a stand-up comic, goes by the name of "J Baby". He went to prison for shooting a man in the shoulder.
Teah wrote the court asking for leniency, telling a judge, "My daddy is a family man and puts his family before himself. All my life, I've had my daddy and our bond is really strong. We mean the world to each other and I really want him back."
Wimberly's next court date will be December 2nd.
Earlier in the day, at Dillard High, students stunned by their classmate's death gathered at a makeshift memorial to hold a prayer vigil.
Some of the teens wore black, others brought flowers and teddy bears, as they held hands around a concrete circle next to three flag poles outside the school.
Collette and Wimberly grew up together; they went to the same schools, had the same classes and were friends.
According to the girls' friends, Wimberly was upset recently after having approached Collette about a relationship and was rejected.
In a police report obtained by
CBS4 news partners
The Miami Herald, Wimberly reportedly told investigators after the shooting: ``I wanted her to feel pain like me.''
According to police, Wimberly brought a 22-caliber, chrome pistol to school and texted Collette to meet her in the hallway by the computer lab and the vending machines because she wanted to talk.
When Collette arrived around 11 a.m. she refused to speak to Wimberly and began to walk away. That is when police say Wimberly shot her in the back.
"I heard a loud 'pow' and I got up and looked," said student Deandrea Franklin, "the girl who did it, we were all standing over her (Collette) and I didn't know she was the one who did it. When a person came out that's when she ran off campus."
Police say they found Wimberly at a nearby Captain Crab's restaurant after she called them and reportedly said that she had shot her friend.
Collette was rushed to Broward General Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Burned Teen's Family Staying Positive
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
