MACOMB COUNTY, MI — A 19-year-old woman accused of using a steak knife to fatally stab a classmate during a fight in a Detroit-area high school has entered a no-contest plea to first-degree murder, according to the Associated Press.
Tanaya Lewis made the plea earlier this week during a pretrial conference in Macomb County Circuit Court. The plea arrangement includes a guarantee that she will be eligible for parole at some point, the AP said.
By entering a no-contest plea, Lewis did not admit guilt, but it is treated the same as a guilty plea for sentencing purposes.
“It’s in her best interests to do this considering all of the circumstances,” Defense attorney Mark Brown said. “It’s a horrible situation all the way around and this is a fair resolution.”
The fatal stabbing occurred on Sept. 12, 2018 at Warren Fitzgerald High School in Warren. Lewis was 17 when authorities say she stabbed 16-year-old Danyna Gibson in the upper chest and back with a steak knife.
Investigators said the fight between the two female straight-A students erupted over a male student, according to the AP.
Lewis’ age and her inability to understand the long-term consequences of her actions prompted prosecutors not to ask for a life sentence without parole.
“This was a calculated, thought-out, intentional event, but because she was 17-years-old (she) lacked the frontal cortex (brain) development to fully recognized the long-term consequences,” Assistant Macomb Prosecutor William Cataldo said.