Father of KC middle school student who was fatally stabbed speaks out after court hearing
A pretrial hearing in the case of a 14-year-old Kansas City student accused of fatally stabbing a classmate was closed to the public Wednesday to “protect the physical and emotional well-being of the juvenile,” according to court documents.
The order was signed Tuesday by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Kevin D. Harrell.
The teen is charged in the fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Manuel Guzman on April 12 at a Kansas City middle school.
Guzman’s father, Antwaun Gross, was allowed to attend the hearing. He exited the Family Justice Center about an hour after the 9:30 a.m. hearing began.
As he spoke about his son, Gross was visibly shaken up.
“I was a teenager once,” Gross said. “I made mistakes, but I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t stabbing other kids to death.”
Gross hopes the court will not “go easy” on the juvenile because he is 14.
During the hearing, he said, a judge decided to keep the juvenile in custody, but not much more information was released.
Attorney Grant Davis was also present at the hearing. He represents Guzman’s mother alongside well known civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was not in attendance.
“Manny’s death was a real tragedy for the local community,” Davis said in a statement.
“He should have been safe in his own school but instead he was attacked with a knife and stabbed to death.”
The next hearing is scheduled for June 29.
Fatal stabbing
Kansas City police responded to reports of a stabbing on April 12 at Northeast Middle School, 4904 Independence Ave.
When they arrived, officers found Guzman inside a bathroom with stab wounds.
Emergency medical crews responded and the 14-year-old was transported to Children’s Mercy with critical injuries.
The school went into lockdown and police closed the streets surrounding the area. Students were released from classes and reunited with their families later in the day.
At 8 p.m., police announced that Guzman had died.
Police brought a 14-year-old suspect into custody and he was held at the Juvenile Detention Center. He was charged April 13 with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in Jackson County Juvenile Court.
On April 15, a judge denied the juvenile’s request to be released on home detention.
