The family of the Missouri teen who suffered severe brain injuries after being attacked has said that a part of her skull has been removed to help with recovery.
Kaylee Gain, 16, from St. Louis, was left in a life-threatening condition by Maurnice DeClue, 15, who allegedly smashed her head into concrete during a violent altercation.
Kaylee suffered a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage during the violent March 8 brawl that was caught on camera near her high school but has since been released from the intensive care unit.
Clint and Jaime Gain, the victim’s parents have shared an update about her health and said she is now at home, after her long hospitalization and two weeks at in-patient rehabilitation facility but still has ‘a long road ahead.’
On her GoFundMe page, the family’s attorney revealed that a part of the teen’s skull had to be removed to ‘relieve the pressure on her brain’ and she now needs to ‘wear a custom helmet.’
‘While hospitalized, Kaylee underwent a craniectomy, which is a neurosurgical procedure that involved removing a portion of Kaylee’s skull in order to relieve the pressure on her brain.
‘The portion of Kaylee’s skull that was removed still has not been put back in place. Ever since Kaylee underwent this procedure it has been necessary for her to wear a custom helmet in order to protect her brain in the event of a fall.
‘Kaylee is scheduled to undergo an additional surgery to reattach this portion of her skull which will require yet another hospitalization,’ attorney Bryan M. Kaemmerer wrote.
Her family also said that the young teen has been experiencing short-term memory loss and will be undergoing extensive neuropsychological testing to determine the long-term impact of her injuries on her cognitive function.
She has also been suffering from ‘trauma, fear and pain’ due to the incident.
The updates comes the same week as a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge’s decision whether Kaylee’s alleged attacker will be tried in court as an adult.
DeClue is facing assault charges. While the hearing is scheduled for today, it is not necessary that the judge provides a decision at the time.
Gain, due to her condition, will not attend the hearing tomorrow, but her mother, father, stepmother and attorney will be present.
‘The family is confident in the legal system, and trusts that the Judge will make an appropriate decision based on all of the facts and evidence in the case.
‘The family will respect the ruling, regardless of the outcome,’ the lawyer said.
Kaylee’s parents have previously slammed their daughter’s accused attacker, who is in custody and demand she be tried as an adult.
The last update shared by Clinton Gain on March 22 shared that Kaylee was finally able to breathe on her own and she was in stable condition at the hospital.
‘We are happy to share that Kaylee is breathing on her own, remains stable and the best news so far is that we have been moved out of the ICU. We are truly blessed by the outpouring of support and your prayers.’
The GoFundMe has raised almost $$50,927 out of its $100,000 and has garnered over 1,000 donations.
In the weeks following the attack, Kaylee remained in a coma before finally regaining consciousness and leaving hospital at the end of March.
Her parents previously took aim at social media posts they believed were made by DeClue, which referenced WWE and made light of the situation.
However, Bryan Kaemmerer, who represents Kaylee’s family, was forced to retract the claims made in his prior statement, admitting: ‘It appears that the social media posts that were made from an account bearing the name of the accused do not appear to be legitimate in light of additional details that have surfaced about the timing of the accused’s arrest, the accused’s lack of access to her phone after she was taken into custody, and metadata showing precisely when these posts were first published.’
At that time, he added Kaylee is recovering but ‘tends to reiterate the same short sentences over and over’, and that she doesn’t know why she is in the hospital.
DeClue’s parents reportedly told local media that she ‘wants to apologize’ to Kaylee.
They have been visiting DeClue while she remains in juvenile custody and claim police have complied messages on social media which allegedly include threats towards the teen.
His statement said that Kaylee’s family were ‘encouraged’ after DeClue’s parents said she wished to apologize for her actions.
‘While these statements do not change the family’s position that it is appropriate for the accused to be tried as an adult, it is encouraging that the accused appears to be remorseful for what transpired during these unfortunate events,’ he added.
‘The family is thankful that the accused apparently did not post these entirely distasteful messages.
‘This does not, however, change the fact that the family firmly believes that there is more than sufficient evidence for the accused to be tried as an adult.’
DailyMail.com revealed DeClue’s family said ‘cruel’ people have managed to get their fundraiser for legal fees taken down and that the 15-year-old is the real victim.
During a hearing at St Louis County Court earlier in April, officials set a date for DeClue’s certification hearing on May 10, which will rule if she is tried as an adult for the first-degree felony assault charges.
Both sets of parents attended the hearing, with the judge advising DeClue’s parents Ronald, who attended court in a wheelchair, and Conseula that they have a right to a lawyer as well as their daughter.
Both declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com, but DeClue’s lawyer Gregory Smith added she was ‘doing well’ despite being in detention.
‘She’s a smart girl’, Smith said. ‘We’re doing what we can to protect her from it, but she has a good understanding of the law.’
Judge Dodson ordered both families to be escorted out of the courtroom separately – which he said was a usual practice in his courtroom. A pre-trial management hearing will also take place on May 1, nine days before the certification hearing.
The family of DeClue, who confirmed her name publicly in a statement to ‘address the misconceptions’ around her arrest, launched a fundraiser to raise $150,000 to assist with her legal fees after she was charged with felony assault.