At the hearing, Young told McDaniels to move to the center of the courtroom and face him. Young, who is black and has served as a judge since 1985, told McDaniels that no more than three or four cases among the thousands he has presided over "reduced me to tears like this case."
"I just wonder what has gone so wrong, so wrong," he said. "In our families, in our community, in our churches, in our schools. It has been painful for me. ... I got literally dozens of phone calls. I have received e-mails. I've had people tell me that I'm only picking on these kids because they're black. That `you'd know they did it if you've ever ridden a bus in the city.' I've had people come up to me on the street and had to walk away from them."
Kreager, who has three children and was homeless at the time of the attack, praised Young for his comments. "He couldn't have said it more perfectly," she said. "It's just sad ... the city has become this way. Hopefully, this says to children you're not just going to have a slap on your wrist."
McDaniels showed no emotion as Young spoke and chose not to say anything in court. The Sun does not usually name juveniles accused of crimes, but her name has been public since she filed countercharges in adult court against Kreager, which prosecutors did not pursue.
Crystal Green, McDaniels' guidance counselor, spoke in her defense and asked Young not to separate her from her family.
"I've known Nakita since 2006 when she entered Robert Poole," Green said. "Since then, I've had no problems with Nakita. ... Since she's been at Robert Poole, her grades have gone up. She's vice president of the student government association."
But Green said she did not know McDaniels when she committed the previous assaults. At the time of the Dec. 4 attack on the city bus, McDaniels was on probation with the juvenile court for second-degree assault. According to Delores Quick, a caseworker at the Department of Juvenile Services, McDaniels and her two sisters had "beat up," "stomped" and "cut" another girl with a knife for "talking about" them.
Quick said that McDaniels had completed a six-week anger management program and attended "Healthy Relationships" courses. Restitution to the victim was never paid.
At a previous school, she was suspended after a fight with a girl who "cracked slick," or insulted her. Quick said, however, that she wasn't aware of that incident. Prosecutors showed evidence of at least four school-based fights, from March 1999 to April 2005.
