What did the juvenile court decide in the A’Marie Jones case this September?

 A development has emerged in the case of A’Marie Jones, the Cleveland 5-year-old who was found injured in a field after disappearing from a family member’s home in September 2025. More than a year later, an 11-year-old girl identified in court as M.H. has been found delinquent on all nine charges. The decision marks a significant step in a case that has drawn attention because of the ages of everyone involved.

The attack occurred on September 13, 2025, after A’Marie went missing while her mother, Antavia Kennibrew, was undergoing a medical procedure. The child was later found in a field near East 148th Street and St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland, according to reporting from Cleveland 19. She had suffered severe physical and sexual injuries and required hospitalization. The case eventually led prosecutors to bring charges against two children who were old enough under Ohio law to face juvenile proceedings.

On Friday, Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Kristin Sweeney found M.H. delinquent on all nine counts in her case. The charges included attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, felonious assault, and strangulation. Because the case was handled in juvenile court, the finding of delinquency is not legally the same as an adult criminal conviction, but it means the court determined that M.H. committed the offenses for which she was adjudicated. Her disposition has not yet been decided.

During the proceedings, Kennibrew described the lasting effect the attack had on her daughter after several weeks in the hospital. She testified that A’Marie returned home changed, repeatedly saying she was no longer pretty and that the world was a bad place. Kennibrew also told the court that her daughter began making statements about wanting to die, stopped playing with her brother, and sometimes isolated herself in her bedroom. “I had a whole different child,” she testified.

The second child involved in the case, a boy who was 9 when charges were filed and is now 10, took a different legal path. On September 28, he admitted to attempted rape and felonious assault as part of a plea agreement, while the remaining charges against him were dismissed. He agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against M.H., and he did so during her trial. His testimony included an account that M.H. strangled A’Marie with the child’s shirt and told him not to reveal what happened.

The boy also described his reaction when he was instructed to remain silent. When prosecutors asked how he felt after being told not to tell anyone, he answered, “Scared.” His testimony became part of the evidence considered during M.H.’s bench trial, which began September 28 and concluded September 30. His own disposition hearing is scheduled for November 20, according to Cleveland 19.

The case took months to reach trial because of the unusually young ages of the children charged. In April, Judge Sweeney ordered both children to participate in competency restoration services before their cases could proceed. Court records later indicated that both were found competent to stand trial after completing the required services. The proceedings have highlighted the complexities of handling serious allegations involving children within Ohio’s juvenile justice system.

M.H. will remain in the juvenile detention center while the court prepares for the next stage of her case. Judge Sweeney ordered her to undergo a sex-offender evaluation, and her disposition hearing is expected within the coming weeks. For Kennibrew and A’Marie, the court’s latest decision brings another chapter to a painful case, while the family continues dealing with the lasting effects of the injuries and trauma her mother described in court.