A new study of more than 11,000 patients published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in April finds for the first time that technology can detect biological evidence of brain changes clearly linked to Alzheimer’s.
The family of a 13-year-old girl who died after being hit in the head by students from her Houston school finally has answers to her tragic and sudden death.
Kashala Francis died on Sunday after suffering from complications of intracranial neoplasm, the Harris County medical examiner told ABC affiliate KTRK.
Her mother, Mamie Jackson, told the news outlet that doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital discovered that Kashala, a student at Attucks Middle School, had a tumor in the back of her head and that it may have worsened because of the fight that occurred near the school on April 18.
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Jackson explained that the video shows two girls attacking Kashala and another girl jumping in and kicking her in the head.
The school did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment, but the Houston Independent School District told KTRK in a statement that “the district is aware that several Attucks Middle School students were involved in an off-campus altercation on Thursday. HISD is gathering information and cooperating with the Houston Police Department in its investigation.”
According to Jackson, Kashala returned home, and despite having bruises on her face, said she felt fine. Days later, she became delusional at a friend’s house and woke up with a severe headache.
“I drove over and I told her to get up. I said, ‘Get up, Kashala.’ She kept saying, ‘Mama, my head hurts,’ so she laid down,” Jackson told KTRK.
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Kashala then lost consciousness and Jackson called 911.
“She was a sweet baby, real sweet,” Jackson said. “She always said she loved me, gave me hugs, kisses.”
She added: “All I know is that my daughter was perfectly fine before this fight and now I’m losing my baby. Nobody knows how that feels to have to bury their child.”
Johnnie Dorsey, the mother of a girl who was seen in the video of the fight, told KTRK, “I hate this happened, you know I hate it. Not just for me, but for my daughter and for the family also.”
“They agreed to fight around the corner,” Dorsey said, adding that the issues between the daughters had been going on for a while.
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“It was an ongoing feud. They had a fight before this fight back in March. And now they had another fight,” she told the news outlet.
What happened has also affected her daughter, she said.
“She’s destroyed. She’s having nightmares,” said Dorsey. “She said, you know, ‘We just had a fight. I didn’t know she had a tumor. She’s a kid, mom. I didn’t hit her that hard.'”
Dorsey added: “I mean, I can’t even hardly sleep at night. I feel so bad for the family.”
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