16-Year-Old Washington Girl Who Stabbed Teen To Death Says She Was Defending Herself

A 16-year-old girl, who is facing murder charges after she allegedly stabbed another teen to death, told investigators that she was only "defending herself."

Lola Luna of Bremerton, Washington, was charged as an adult Monday for the murder of 16-year-old Syanna Puryear-Tucker. The stabbing occurred outside Luna's home Saturday afternoon.

During the interrogation, Luna told detectives that Puryear-Tucker confronted her in the yard. She said that Puryear-Tucker was accompanied by two of her friends and that she had also brought her infant baby with her to the fight.

One of the teens who had accompanied Puryear-Tucker later confessed to the detectives that Puryear-Tucker had called Luna and warned her that she was on her way to "kick her a--."

The teen told a Bremerton police sergeant "that she was anticipating a fistfight, then saw Lola was armed with a large kitchen knife," court documents stated.

"(Puryear-Tucker) throws the first punch, which struck Luna in the head," a detective wrote in the court document. "Luna said she lost it at this point and started stabbing (Puryear-Tucker)."

Luna said she did so as an act of self-defense. She told the officers that she stabbed Puryear-Tucker in the torso, shoulder and face.

A doorbell camera placed at a neighbor’s house captured the incident, however, it did not capture the "blow by blow" of the fight.

"I could see that Lola could have remained in the house, not gone into the yard and could have walked away before the fight became physical," a detective stated in the court document.

Puryear-Tucker suffered multiple stab wounds and was rushed to a nearby hospital by her friends. She was later transferred to another hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

Lola told officers that she left the knife at her home, but officers failed to locate it during the initial investigation. The bloody knife was later retrieved from under a tree the next morning.

Puryear-Tucker is survived by a five-month-old daughter. Police say such acts of violence where young people are involved is not common in the Bremerton area.