SCRANTON – Investigators say a fight on Facebook between two teenage girls escalated into a street fight.
Now, one of those girls, an 18 year old, is dead. The other, a 16 year old, is behind bars.
“The thing that is going through my mind is that I failed,” said Roxanne Draper, the victim’s friend.
The last time Roxanne Draper saw Kayla VanWert alive was in Draper's home in the hill section.
Draper says VanWert, who had been staying with Draper, left to go fight another teenager just blocks away.
Draper begged her not to go.
“I was like, 'Kayla, please just don't.' She just shrugged her shoulders and walked away, she already knew, she had it in her head that she was going to go and do this," Draper said.
Scranton police say VanWert died following that fight with Cathleen Boyer, 16, that took place in an alley.
Investigators say the two girls had been arguing on Facebook, exchanging heated messages before the brawl.
Detectives say Boyer stabbed VanWert repeatedly. VanWert later died at the hospital.
“When I found out, it broke me, like a piece of me just left my body at that time when they had told me that she had passed away,” added Draper.
“She told me that Kayla passed away, and I was like 'no, it can't be her.' It's definitely somebody, she's probably still out there. She's like 'no, she went to go fight the girl, and she stabbed her',” said Sky Yoh, the victim's friend.
Police say Boyer fled the scene but then posted on Facebook, “I'm wrong, I'll admit it...got to face the consequences...no remorse.”
Boyer is locked up charged as an adult on numerous offenses including aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.
“If I could go back to last night, she never would have left my porch, I mean I would have held her down if I had to,” said Draper. “It just hurts knowing that I could have a least talked her out of it, tried to. It hurts that I wasn't here.”
The Lackawanna County coroner has now ruled VanWert's death as a homicide. It is expected that investigators will charge Boyer with homicide as well.
