The Missouri teenager whose head was brutally bashed into the pavement in a viral after-school beatdown is showing “signs of significant cognitive impairment” and is repeating herself over and over again after waking from a coma.
Kaylee Gain, 16, seems to realize she’s in the hospital but has no clue why she’s there and doesn’t remember the brawl with another teenage girl, a lawyer for the family said in an update Monday.
While the teen’s ability to walk — with help — is improving, her speech is still limited, attorney Bryan Kaemmerer said.
“Kaylee’s ability to walk has slightly improved but she is still unable to do so without the assistance of hospital staff,” Kaemmerer said in the update.
“However, Kaylee is still showing signs of significant cognitive impairment during the limited conversations that she is able to have, and she tends to reiterate the same short sentences over and over.”
Gain suffered a skull fracture and brain bleed from the March 8 attack in which an unidentified 15-year-old girl held her on the ground and repeatedly knocked her head onto the concrete, blocks away from Hazelwood East High School in Spanish Lake.
The 15-year-old was arrested and charged with assault.
The younger girl is reportedly looking to apologize for the horrific beating, according to Gain’s family — who also took back previous criticism of their daughter’s alleged attacker for posting insensitive statements about the brawl on social media.
The family has since learned that the social posts — including jokes that the beatdown would qualify her to “join MMA or WWE” — were shared by someone pretending to be the accused and were not legitimate, Kaemmerer said Monday.
“The family is encouraged … by public statements by those associated with the accused would like to apologize to Kaylee for what occurred,” the attorney said.
But Gain’s relatives still want her alleged beater to be tried as an adult even if she appears to be remorseful, he said.
Meanwhile, the unnamed girl’s family said she was “harassed and bullied” before the caught-on-camera brawl and was defending herself.
The family launched a Change.org petition begging Chief Juvenile Officer Rick Gaines of the 21st Circuit Court to show “compassion” and not charge the honor roll student as an adult.
“Prior to an incident on March 8th where she was seen defending herself from harassment and bullying, she had never been in trouble,” it read. “Her work as a scholar was tainted by the bullying she had to endure at school.”
