Mshairi Alkebular, the 16-year-old who was taken into custody for stabbing a 14-year-old several times at the National Zoo in April, was sentenced to 82 months in prison today.
Alkebular, who was charged as an adult, pled guilty to assault and carrying a dangerous weapon in June. According to reports, Alkebular was part of a group of teenagers who threw a chair at the 14-year-old who was attacked, who then surrounded him and started striking him. Alkebular then stabbed the 14-year-old twice with a knife, before following him out of the Zoo and stabbing him again four more times.
The incident took place during “Easter Monday: An African American Family Tradition,” which drew around 20,000 people to the Zoo’s grounds. The incident reminded many locals of 2000, when the Zoo’s traditional Easter Monday celebration was marred after a teenager shot seven people at the zoo’s entrance.