Missouri teen beaten in viral video is out of ICU but has limited speech and trouble walking on her own, attorney says

A Missouri teenager who was brutally beaten by another teenager in what authorities called a “disturbed display of violence” has been released from the intensive care unit but has difficulty speaking and walking on her own, a doctor said. family lawyer.

Kaylee Gain has been hospitalized since a March 8 fight near Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, captured in a viral video on social media.

The footage shows several people fighting in the street near the intersection of Norgate and Claudine streets, St. Louis County police said in a March 11 Facebook post.

A person is seen punching Gain several times and slamming his head into the ground. A 15-year-old girl was arrested a day after the fight for assault, authorities said.

Police said the victim “suffered severe head trauma” and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

In an update Friday, an attorney for Gain’s family said she was out of the intensive care unit and “was able to engage in limited verbal conversations.”

“Kaylee also recently started speech therapy and has taken a few short walks with the help of hospital staff as she is still unable to get around on her own,” attorney Bryan Kaemmerer said. “However, Kaylee has no memory of the altercation that led to her hospitalization.”

Kaemmerer responded to several rumors about the altercation on social media, denying reports that Gain’s mother drove her to the scene of the fight.

He said Gain’s mother was at work and was driven to the hospital by a co-worker after police informed her of what had happened.

The lawyer, however, confirmed reports that Gain was involved in a fight on March 7 with another teenager. Both girls were suspended after the incident, Kaemmerer said.

He added that it was unclear whether the March 8 fight was retaliation.

Gain’s parents are asking that the 15-year-old be tried as an adult. Kaemmerer said in his statement that “the family believes that trying the accused as an adult is the most appropriate way to provide the justice that Kaylee deserves.”

Authorities have not said whether the 15-year-old will be tried as an adult.

Wesley Bell, St. Louis County District Attorney said in a post on X that the fight was “sickening” and that the video was “difficult to watch.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called the actions in the video, a “deranged display of violence that must be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

On Thursday, police announced that eight more teens had been remanded to St. Louis County Family Court for consideration of assault charges, NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis reported. They are a 17-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy, two 16-year-old girls, three 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl. None of the teenagers were taken into custody.