By Dan Murphy
The story of the death of Kayla Green, pictured above, was a tragedy for the Mt. Vernon and Westchester County community to comprehend. It’s been nine months since the April 2022 fatal stabbing of the 16 year old cheer captain, Kayla Green, after a city-wide parade to celebrate the perfect season and championship victory by the Mount Vernon Knights Varsity Basketball team. Another victim and survivor, Mainece Simpson, is still struggling from the trauma of the brutal attack.
The family of Kayla Green, friends, and the community remain devastated by Kayla’s untimely loss. We spoke to Kalya’s father Marlan Green, who together with Kayla’s mother, Lavern Gordon, have been vocal about their concerns about what happened to their daughter Kayla, and in the aftermath of her death. Mr. Green spoke lovingly of his daughter, and the pride he took in helping her succeed.
“My daughter was on the Honor Roll and was the captain of the Cheerleading team. She always stayed late to help others.” “Kalya wanted to become a Doctor and help others and serve others. She was humble and was raised the right way by her family. She also participated in a summer program with the Mount Vernon Police Department,” said Mr. Green.
Green said that on the date of the accident, an ambulance was not available, resulting in Mt. Vernon Police taking her in the car to Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx. By the time Marlan Green got to the hospital, he was told that Kayla had already passed away. “With that large of a crowd, there should have been an ambulance there, or close by. We didn’t have an ambulance in Mt. Vernon to save my daughter.” Green does not blame the Mt. Vernon Police, who didn’t want to wait any longer to get Kayla to a hospital.
But Green says that the lack of a police presence, or school security, after a rally was held outside of Mt. Vernon City Hall, attended by Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and other officials, should have been better planned and managed.
There was only one police officer there. This was a high school basketball game and rally with hundreds of teenagers. You needed more security and more cops after. Once we send our kids to school, we expect them to come home,” said Green.
Another issue that Marlan Green and his family take exception to is the lack of response from the School District or the city after Kayla’s death. Except for Mt. Vernon High School Cheerleaders Coach Knox, nobody offered counseling for Kayla’s younger siblings who are 10 and 8 years old, or even sympathy for their loss.
Green lamented, “Nobody from that school reached out to us to talk about what happened. No services for my son, or my step daughter. Everyone knew Kayla to be a kind, nice person. They knew who she was, so why not reach out to us? Parents want their children to be safe. We didn’t hear from anybody. She was never fighting with anyone, she went to school to learn.”
Mr. Green is hoping that “in the future this doesn’t happen to other parents. The whole system has to change, or this can happen to someone else.”
Former Mt. Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas is helping the Green family through this tragedy. He said, “As a parent and a former Mayor, I’m looking at the absurdity in all of this as the result of a negligent administration. That is how I got involved, because the city has turned a cold shoulder on Lavern and Marlan.”
“There was also a lack of proper planning for this event. The ambulance company should have been notified about the large crowd. If that had happened, or if the city had its own I’m confident that an ambulance would have been ready,” said Thomas.
The 15-year-old girl was sentenced to three to nine years of incarceration after pleading guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree in the death of Kayla. Her name has not been released because she is a minor.
Our prayers go out to the Green family.
