Trial date set for 3 Delaware teens in fatal school bathroom fight

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Three Delaware girls charged in a fatal school bathroom fight will go to trial nearly a year after a 16-year-old girl’s death.

A Family Court judge on Tuesday scheduled the non-jury trial for April 3, 2017. Attorneys say it could last up to two weeks.

The judge ruled last month that a 16-year-old girl facing the most serious charge, criminally negligent homicide, would not be tried as an adult, leaving all three defendants to be tried as juveniles.

The girl is accused of repeatedly hitting Amy Joyner-Francis in an April attack at Wilmington’s Howard High School of Technology. Two other girls are charged with conspiracy in planning the fight, which was recorded on a cellphone.

An autopsy found that Joyner-Francis, who had a heart condition, died of sudden cardiac death.