A medical examiner has determined that a 13-year-old Texas girl died due to complications of an undetected brain tumor, not from a fight she was reportedly involved in days before her death.
KTRK reported that Kashala Francis’ April 24 death was caused by an intracranial neoplasm which doctors discovered following an altercation near her middle school. Medical examiners also ruled out homicide in Francis’ death.
Francis was taken off life support days after losing consciousness at a relative’s home. Her mother, Mamie Jackson, told the news station that two girls jumped her daughter after school before a third girl kicked her in the head.
A video of the April 19 after-school fight reportedly shows Francis being attacked and kicked. In a snippet provided by KRTK, a girl’s apparently seen sitting on top of Francis and pulling her hair while children laugh in the background.
Francis was said to have come home with a bruise on her face but claimed she was okay. The following day, she was reportedly at a family member’s home when she temporarily appeared confused.
The next day, Francis called Jackson over the phone and complained of a headache, prompting her to come to the relative’s home to check on her, Jackson said.
“I drove over and I told her get up. I said ‘Get up, Kashala.’ She kept saying, ‘Mama, my head hurt,’ so she laid down,” she recalled to the news station.
Francis never regained consciousness. While treated at Texas Children’s Hospital, Jackson said she learned the 13-year-old had a large tumor in the back of her head and was amassing fluid in her brain.
The mother says she wasn’t aware of her daughter’s brain tumor before then. Despite the medical examiner’s ruling, she believes the fight was the catalyst for her daughter’s death.
Jackson said, “I still would have had more time with my baby.”
[Featured Image: Kashala Francis/KTRK video screengrab]
