Mother of stabbing suspect says she warned Southeast Raleigh High prior to fight
The fight that led to a fatal stabbing at Southeast Raleigh High School had a history dating back several weeks, and the mother of the 14-year-old student charged with murder says she warned an official Monday that her son might be attacked.
Cherelle McLaughlin of Raleigh said a dispute between students began with her older daughter, who had an earlier altercation with a female Southeast Raleigh High student that snowballed until multiple other juveniles got involved.
McLaughlin said her daughter’s original fight led to more than a dozen juveniles, including many shown in videos of Monday’s fatal fight, coming to her house in Southeast Raleigh roughly a week ago and assaulting both McLaughlin and her mother.
When she brought her son to school Monday, McLaughlin said she told his case worker that he would likely get jumped for defending his sister.
‘I warned the school,’ mother says
“My son was fighting to his life,” she said. “He already missed school. They were threatening to jump on him, to do this, do that. I warned the school that morning right before I dropped him off.”
Two juvenile victims were wounded in the fight at Southeast Raleigh High Monday: a 15-year-old who died and a 16-year-old who remains hospitalized with what Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson called non-life threatening injuries.
Raleigh police obtained a secure custody order for a 14-year-old, charging him with murder on a juvenile petition.
Neither police nor school officials have released the victims’ or the suspect’s name. McLaughlin identified her son as the 14-year-old suspect, whom The N&O is not identifying because he is a juvenile and his name has not been officially released.
McLaughlin said she had only a 3-minute telephone call Monday to speak with her son, who remains in custody.
“He was scared to death,” she said.
Response from school system and police
Wake County schools did not respond to a message asking about a prior warning at Southeast Raleigh High, or about any threats leading up to the fight.
But Superintendent Robert Taylor praised the leadership of Eddie Harden, the school’s principal, at a school board committee meeting on Tuesday.
“On behalf of the Board off Education, we do want to extend our support to Principal Eddie Harden, what he’s doing with his faculty,” Taylor said. “We recognize that leadership matters in these kinds of instances.
“I and other Central Services staff have spent a considerable amount of time with the principal and his faculty and staff and I can tell you that they are the examples of resiliency. In light of what has transpired for this community, they are working continually to make sure that as professionals they are where they need to be for their students.”
Raleigh police spokesman Lt. Jason Borneo said the Southeast Raleigh High investigation continues and he could not comment on any history of incidents involving the juvenile’s family.
“Our investigators will examine every lead in this case to determine the motive,” he said in an email Tuesday. “This may include looking closely at the relationship or relationships between the juveniles involved and their families.”
The stabbing, which was captured on video, happened in the school gym, officials said. A school resource officer radioed for help at 11:01 a.m. after an altercation involving other students.
Videos widely circulated on social media appeared to show a fight breaking out between two students outside the gym and then flowing into the gym as more students followed.
Southeast Raleigh High went into a Code Red lockdown Monday following the fight, and classes were canceled there Tuesday.
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.
Staff writer T. Keung Hui contributed
This story was originally published November 28, 2023 at 12:04 PM.