ORANGE PARK, Fla. – The Clay County School District confirmed to News4Jax on Tuesday that the teen who was stabbed to death during a brawl over the weekend was not a student in the school district.
The Orange Park home where the violence broke out Saturday night has been quiet and no investigators were seen at the home Tuesday as detectives try and piece together what happened and whether anyone should be charged.
Clay County Schools said it will have counselors on hand when students return to school on Monday from Thanksgiving break to help students who may have been affected by what went down Saturday night involving at least nine children in a knife fight.
While we know the 13-year-old who died is not a Clay County student it’s unclear about the other eight children involved, ranging in ages 10 to 17.
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said the fact that detectives canvassed the neighborhood for hours on Monday shows they’re trying to build a case against whoever is responsible for injury or death and you can expect they will be interrogating the children involved.
“They all know what happened. They all know who did it. It depends on the weakest link and when they find that weak link they’ll start getting the right information,” Jefferson said. “They separate them. Sometimes they put one or two together and listen to what they have to say. See if they’re trying to corroborate something together. They’ll have the leverage to embellish some things that happened to see if they can get the truth out of some individuals.”
News4Jax also asked the Clay County School District whether there are concerns about rivalries developing when students return to the classroom over this. It said it is letting law enforcement take the lead on that issue.
Jefferson said it will be critical to make sure students don’t return to school with any unsettled feuds.