7-Year-Old Allegedly Stabbed to Death by Her 13-Year-Old Sister, Father Says ‘She Was Just a Ray of Sunshine’

Mar. 15, 2025

Jessie Jane Lilburn.Photo:Voran Funeral Home

Voran Funeral Home

“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 toWXYZ,FOX 2 DetroitandCBS Detroit.

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.

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While speaking to police afterward, the 13-year-old allegedly appeared to show “no emotion,” DiGiacomo claimed to PEOPLE.

“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.

source: people.com