The heartbroken father of a 7-year-old Michigan girl who was allegedly stabbed to death by her 13-year-old sister while being babysat last month is opening up about his late daughter.
In an Oct. 4 interview with local TV station WXYZ, Jason Lilburn remembered his late daughter, Jessie Jane Lilburn, as someone who loved outdoor activities and playing with family.
“Little JJ, Jessie Jane. She was just a ray of sunshine, always wanted to be outside, always riding her bike,” Lilburn told the outlet.
The 7-year-old died at a local hospital on Sept. 28 after police officers responded to reports of a possible stabbing at a home in Taylor, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, at around 1 p.m., according to WXYZ, FOX 2 Detroit and CBS Detroit.
According to FOX 2 Detroit, authorities said the girls’ parents left their 7-year-old and 13-year-old daughters home at around 11:15 a.m. local time that day, and the older sister was babysitting.
Detective Zachary DiGiacomo previously alleged to PEOPLE that the stabbing took place after an argument about a note that the 7-year-old left in the bathroom to “generally tell people to flush the toilet.” DiGiacomo claimed that the girl’s 13-year-old sister took the note, and the 7-year-old “knocked over the trash can in the kitchen and trash got everywhere” while trying to get the note back.
The 13-year-old eventually went to her bedroom and came down to stab her sister “about 30 minutes later” in the bathroom with a “butcher-style knife,” the detective alleged. According to DiGiacomo, the older sister then went to get a larger knife and then stabbed her sister some more. In total, the victim was stabbed more than 10 times, the detective claimed.
Lilburn told WXYZ that the sisters had “normal sibling arguments” and no history of violence before the deadly incident, calling the killing, “totally unexpected.”
“It really pulls at my heart that [Jessie’s] not with us anymore and that there’s so much love for her,” Lilburn said of the memorial set up in front of his house for his late daughter, per WXYZ.
The 13-year-old, who allegedly called 911 after the stabbing, is now facing charges of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and first-degree child abuse, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release obtained .
While speaking to police afterward, the 13-year-old allegedly appeared to show “no emotion,” DiGiacomo claimed .
“Myself and another detective, we did do an interview with the 13-year-old,” he says, alleging that the teen appeared “emotionless. Showed no emotion at all during it.” DiGiacomo added that the teen allegedly “didn’t deny anything” and “went into detail about the incident.”
According to WXYZ, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the 13-year-old won’t be tried as an adult in the case and will be kept in the juvenile system due to her age. It’s unclear if she has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on her behalf.
