Mom of girl, 12, who stabbed brother blames her medication

Mother of girl, 12, who stabbed her brother, nine, to death in ‘demonic’ rage pens heartbreaking 800-word defense of her ‘happy, energetic, normal, god-fearing child’ – as she vows to stand by her

• The girl stabbed her nine-year-old brother Zander to death on January 5 
• Bodycam footage released this week shows her sobbing and blaming it on ‘some demonic s**t’ 
• Her mother, April Lyda, says she was a normal child until she was put on the unspecified medication  

The mother of the 12-year-old Oklahoma girl who stabbed her brother to death in a ‘demonic’ rage says she was a normal child until she went back on a medication that she’d been taken off for a year, and that had caused her to start cutting herself.

The girl, who DailyMail.com is not naming, is now being treated in a children’s facility in Tulsa. 

On January 5, she stabbed her nine-year-old brother, Zander, to death in their home in an as-yet unexplained attack. 

Her mother told police she stabbed him three times while he was lying in his bed, trying to sleep.  

Afterwards, as she was being placed into handcuffs, the girl sobbed: ‘I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened. 

‘It’s some demonic s**t’. 

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The girl, who DailyMail.com is not naming, is now being treated in a children’s facility in Tulsa. On January 5, she stabbed her nine-year-old brother, Zander, to death in their home in an as-yet unexplained attack

Mom April Lyda with her son, Zander, on a GoFundme appeal for the family after his 12-year-old sister was accused of stabbing him to death

”They were good kids… they were raised as God fearing children and never had behavioral issues until she was put back on a medication she was off for over a year,’ the girl’s mother said

The case resurfaced this week with the release of harrowing bodycam footage of her arrest, and her mother, April’s initial conversations with police while her son was in the hospital. 

He died of his injuries a short time later. In all of the footage released by Tulsa Police Department, the mother and daughter both believe the boy is still alive. 

In the months since the attack, April’s friends have set up a fundraiser to help her move with her three-year-old son. Her 12-year-old daughter remains in a juvenile facility receiving treatment. 

In an update on the fundraising page – which has so far raised $10,000 – the grieving mother told this week how her daughter was a ‘normal’ teenage’ who never even ‘yelled’ at her until she went back on an unspecified medication that she’d stopped taking for a year.

‘They were good kids… they were raised as God fearing children and never had behavioral issues until she was put back on a medication she was off for over a year,’ she said. 

She did not specify what type of medication the girl was taking but said, ‘no it wasn’t psych meds’. 

The edited video begins with the girl running downstairs as she yells, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry’

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5oOwjwDJw%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

Zander Lyda who was stabbed to death in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 5 this year

MOM’S FULL STATEMENT SIX MONTHS AFTER SON’S STABBING DEATH BY HER DAUGHTER

I just want to thank you all for the donations, they couldn’t have come at a better moment, I seen the YouTube video, I don’t think it’s legal or appropriate for them to post that, so hopefully it will be taken down, I try not to let the ignorant comments and all the theories get to me, yes my kids have different fathers, but they were good kids and I never let that prevent me from providing for them in every way including emotionally, mentally, financially. 

They were raised as God-fearing children & never had behavioral issues until she was put back on a medication she was off for over a year – no it wasn’t psych meds – and I can’t get into details because I’m not sure what all I’m allowed to share just yet. Just know my kids loved each other and always got along until the very end there. They were fighting a lot more than usual but they never physically hurt each other on purpose, that just wasn’t who they were. 

She has never even yelled at me – she was happy and energetic, loves school, she is not mentally ill & has not been diagnosed with anything. She has been very well behaved the entire 6 months she has been gone and yes I’m very supportive of her and love her very much. Obviously there is a lot of healing that we both need before we can ever live together again and she needs mental & emotional help after this. She could have permanent, damage we don’t know yet, but she has not had any issues. I want to clarify something, my daughter was not a cutter! She had old cuts from two months prior from when she was first put back on her meds and everyone agreed to take her off immediately and so I did. Unfortunately it was too late the damage was done. The new cuts were from that night she attacked my precious son. 

She has a very amazing team of experts that spend almost everyday with her for hours sometimes. They have been around her this entire six months, they know her pretty well, they also feel like she is telling the truth, and I believe the experts when it comes to this. She is going to treatment, for how long we do not know yet. 

Another thing is my son was not asleep. I know it’s a minor rumor but he was awake because he didn’t have school the next day, he was switching from public to homeschool through a homeschooling program here in my state, we used them before and he had just met his teacher a few days prior but we were waiting for his Chromebook before he could start. Anyway I did not find out that he was awake until our interview. I was confused and shocked, I thought someone broke into my home and hurt my kids and I thought my daughter ran away for safety. 

I did not ever think or imagine that one of my kids would do such a thing. She was as normal as your child. As any 12 year old child who was not allowed to cuss or watch scary evil movies, she was just starting to rebel but she was also just going through normal teenage things, so no there were no signs that would have warned any of us that she was a threat. 

I feel very guilty I couldn’t protect my son. I have promised my children a million times that I would never let anything like this happen to them I would never allow anyone to hurt them and they have nothing to be afraid of at home because it’s our safe place, you know all the normal things parents say to their kids, I felt like I failed him and her both.

I know it’s not my fault and people can be so cruel and evil especially right now. Anyway with all that said, don’t believe everything you see or hear on the internet or from strangers that have never met me or my family. I still have my rights, if I was negligent in anyway I doubt I would still have rights over both my surviving children. Again, thank you so much for the donations, I have to move and I honestly was struggling to pay for it. So I greatly appreciate the donations, and the prayers and kind words. I know I will be reunited with my son again and that’s what keeps me going, that and my two surviving children. 

This was a horrible tragedy that was completely unseen and unimaginable to any parent in any circumstance. God bless you all. And may you’re kindness be return 10 fold.’

MARCH 18 

There isn’t much to update on, but my daughter is going to be getting a mental evaluation done soon than we can decide the best treatment plan. It’s looking like the medication definitely played a huge part in all this and that makes me so sick because I put her her back on it after taking her off for about 1-1/2 year after her being on it for so long, all the side effects makes sense now although at the time we didn’t know that they were side effects, she was treated as if they were separate issues. 

It’s just all very aggravating and heartbreaking. I try to keep my mind busy but if it’s not, then I’m crying and having a panic attack. When I see things of his laying around the house the memories start rolling in. It’s so hard to be without my children. It’s so hard to know that she did this to him, my poor son. 

I’m trying hard to stay focused and fight for justice for both of them especially my son. 

He was the light to my whole world and it’s so dark with out him. I miss goofing off with him, coming up with jokes to tell each other, singing or gaming with him, I just don’t know how I’m supposed to keep going after such a horrible thing. You would think people that experience something like this would get a pass but they don’t, you are forced to continue with life so your other children are not alone in this dark world. 

Pray for your kids every day and pray over them every day, teach them to pray. It didn’t do us much good but I know Satan kills, lies and destroys not God.

I just wish he would have helped those doctors save him, he could have lived. He should have lived. His last birthday he will have. #forever9 – April Lyda

Since killing her brother in January, the girl has been receiving treatment in a center where her mother says she seems to be improving. 

‘She has been very well behaved the entire 6 months she has been gone. 

‘I’m very supportive of her and love her very much. Obviously there is a lot of healing that we both need before we can ever live together again and she needs mental and emotional help after this, she could have permanent damage we don’t know yet…’ she said.

When she was taken into custody, the girl had cuts on her arms which she told police were self-inflicted.

The girl’s mother said this week she never self-harmed until she went back on the  medication. 

‘My daughter was not a cutter. ‘She had old cuts from two months prior from when she was first put back on her meds and everyone agreed to take her off immediately and so I did and unfortunately it was too late the damage was done.’ 

She added that when she first entered the room where her daughter stabbed Zander, she thought an intruder was to blame.

‘I was confused and shocked, I thought someone broke into my Home and hurt my kids and I thought my daughter ran away for safety.

‘I did not ever think or imagine that one of my kids would do such a thing. 

‘She was as normal as your child, as any 12-year-old.’ 

It remains unclear what will come of the child if and when she completes her treatment program. The disturbing bodycam footage is 25 minutes long and shows the moment the girl, screaming and running out of the house, is met with police officers.

It begins with the girl running out of the family home, screaming ‘I’m so sorry mama! I don’t know what happened!’

She continued to apologize, choking on tears while sitting with her legs crossed on the grass outside the family home. 

‘I really didn’t want this to happen like this, this sucks. I’m probably going to go to jail and live the rest of my life in prison,’ she sobbed while helping police retrieve the knife she threw out of her bedroom window after carrying out the attack. 

Her mother, upon realizing it was her daughter who’d committed the violent attack, is stunned. 

Pictured: The Family Center for Juvenile Justice in Tulsa, where the 12-year-old girl was being held after the fatal stabbing in January

‘You used a knife?! You stabbed him in the chest!? I don’t know what happened but I have to go with your brother and make sure he’s OK,’ she tells her.

An ambulance leaves the home with Zander and his mother, leaving the girl at the scene with police.  

The footage then shows conversations between the girl and a supervising police officer. 

She cries, wails, and prays – begging in a whisper ‘God, help me’ – while sat in the back of the police car. 

At points, she is more upbeat. 

‘Are these handcuffs necessary? I’m a good child,’ she asks at one point. 

Fixated on the idea of prison, she tells the officer she is convinced she has ‘ruined’ her life. 

He consoled her compassionately before taking her to the police station at 03.52am. 

Upon their arrival, he told another officer that the girl had been asleep in the back of the car. At the hospital, her mother April was desperately searching for answers.

‘My 12 year old daughter, I don’t understand why she would do something like that, she’s 12.’ 

She described how she had been upstairs in the home when she heard the boy screaming. 

‘He was in bed, he was downstairs trying to sleep. I don’t know why she even went down there, I don’t understand any of it all I know is I heard him screaming the worst scream ever. I thought maybe he was having a nightmare so I tried waking him up and there’s blood everywhere and he said “she stabbed me, she stabbed me”. 

‘I was like “who?!” And then he started going in and out of consciousness.’

Police then asked for a search warrant for the home to assist their investigation. 

‘We need a search waver for the apartment. You don’t have to authorize but it would really aid our investigation,’ he said. 

April shot back: ‘We know what happened. My daughter says she got a knife and stabbed him three times.’ 

Their interview ended when Zander’s father, Levi Layda, and grandmother, arrived at the scene. 

The cop walked out of the hospital family room and started speaking with a nurse outside. 

‘She was upstairs, he was downstairs asleep and she just heard screaming, she came down, she thought he was having a nightmare until she saw the blood.’ 

The nurse, horrified, replied: ‘You wonder what’s going on in a 12-year-old’s mind.’

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