VILLA RICA, Ga. (AP) — A 12-year-old girl was taken to a hospital and died days after she collapsed in the street following a fistfight near a school bus stop in her Georgia neighborhood, according to police.
The death of sixth grader Jada West is being investigated by police in suburban Villa Rica, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Atlanta.
Sgt. Spencer Crawford, a police spokesman, said Wednesday that investigators are reviewing evidence, including cellphone video of the fight, and are awaiting autopsy results. He said police plan to meet later this week with prosecutors, who will ultimately decide whether to bring charges.
The fight between Jada and another student from Mason Creek Middle School broke out at an intersection near the girl's home on Thursday afternoon, Crawford said.
Cellphone video posted by Jada's aunt on social media shows a school bus leaving the scene more than 90 seconds before any punches get thrown. The video shows Jada and another girl yelling and taunting each other while standing a good distance apart. A group of classmates stands watching them.
Someone can be heard saying, “Who is going to fight you over some noise?”
The video shows both girls putting down their backpacks at roughly the same time. They approach each other and then begin throwing punches. Within seconds, they fall to the pavement, clutching each other, with Jada landing on her back and rolling backward feet-first over her head and neck.
Both girls stand up before a woman intervenes, and the adult can be heard telling Jada to go home. The video shows Jada picking up her backpack and appearing to walk away when the clip ends.
It's unclear what happened next, but Jada didn't make it home. Crawford said police were dispatched on a call of “a young juvenile who was in cardiac arrest laying in the street.”
“When we actually arrived, paramedics were on the scene, and they were already loading her up and performing CPR,” Crawford said. "Paramedics told us there was an adult on the scene performing CPR when they arrived.”
Jada was taken to a hospital. On Sunday, her mother, Rashunda McClendon, posted a video to Facebook asking people to “please pray for my baby. She's fighting for her life.”
Jada's aunt, De'Quala McClendon, later announced on Facebook on Sunday that her niece had died.
“Now you got your spiritual crown,” she wrote, “it hurts so so bad but I know you are ok.”
Rashunda McClendon declined to speak with an Associated Press reporter who came to her home on Wednesday.
A paper sign staked into the ground near the scene of the fight said, “RIP JADA WEST,” and bore the message: “Heaven gain an angel.” A bouquet and a plastic pinwheel were left beside it.
Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said in a statement that her office is aware of the police investigation into Jada's death but gave no further comment.
The Douglas County School System, in a statement, described Jada as “an upbeat, kind, and vibrant student.” It said counselors were made available at the school to speak with students and staff.
“This incident did not occur on school property or during school hours, and there is nothing to indicate that this is related to any on-campus activity,” the school district's statement said.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.
A sign outside Mason Creek Middle School in Winston, Ga., displays a message, Wednesday March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
A paper sign left in memory of Jada West stands in her neighborhood in Villa Rica, Ga., Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
HEBRON, Ky. (AP) — President Donald Trump toured an Ohio pharmaceutical company on Wednesday and campaigned in the nearby Kentucky district of a Republican in Congress he'd like to see defeated — attempting to project political and economic strength as war in Iran has scrambled financial markets and hurt his poll numbers.
Trump toured Thermo Fisher Scientific in suburban Cincinnati, talking up his administration's efforts to persuade major manufacturers to lower prescription medication prices so that they are closer to what is charged abroad.
The trip is a test of Trump’s ability to cleanse his party of those who oppose him, but also to try to stay on an economic message increasingly strained by the military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
“I used some very strong negotiating talent to get every single country to almost immediately approve. I threatened them with tariffs," he told reporters.
The Supreme Court recently struck down sweeping tariffs that Trump's administration had imposed around the world to boost his economic policies. But the president used an executive order to restore some levies, and says his push to lower drug costs can help Republicans ahead of November's midterms.
His trip, however, was overshadowed by the military action in Iran, which Trump said was “an excursion that will keep us out of a war." He added of Tehran, “for them, it’s a war. For us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought.”
In an interview with Cincinnati’s WKRC-TV CBS, Trump said he planned to tap the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to bring down gasoline prices.
“Right now, we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down,” Trump said, without providing details.
That interview followed the president saying during the drug company facility tour that stock markets had been volatile as gas prices have risen, saying, “I figured we’d be hit a little bit. But, we were hit probably less than I thought.”
“We’ll be back on track in a pretty short while,” Trump said. "Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down.”
He also called the turmoil “just a matter of war,” saying “that happens,” while adding, “I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought.”
Trump next headed to Hebron, Kentucky, in the district of Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the few congressional Republicans who has dared defy Trump on Iran and other major issues. Trump has endorsed a GOP primary challenger to Massie, Ed Gallrein.
The president spent more time decrying his Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden, than Massie, though.
He ticked off his administration's accomplishments and told the crowd, “The midterms are going to be very, very important to keep it going."
Trump relished saying, “Kenn-tucky,” proclaiming that he was pronouncing it like a resident. He said the stock market had set repeatedly reached new highs since he was reelected in 2024, but didn't mention markets more recently having dropped.
“We’re making more things in the USA than we ever have,” Trump said. When he mentioned Iran, the crowd chanted, “USA! USA!”
“They don’t know what the hell hit them,” Trump said of U.S. and Israel strikes there. “They didn’t expect anything like this.”
Polls showed that Americans were increasingly wary of Trump's handling of the economy even before the conflict with Iran began, and fighting there has derailed Trump’s messaging, as the low gas prices he once bragged about are now surging and stocks that had set record highs have slipped.
Employers also cut an unexpectedly high 92,000 jobs in February, and revisions trimmed another 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls — which the White House had previously hailed as “blockbuster."
After Democrats pushing the message that the everyday cost of living remained too high won the Virginia and New Jersey governors' races in November, the White House announced that Trump would travel the country more frequently. It was an attempt to show that he’s taking kitchen table issues seriously and reassure voters nervous about still-rising prices and economic growth.
Since then, the president has made stops in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas — though his speeches have sometimes been more focused on his own political grievances than on his plans to help lower everyday costs across the country.
This trip, however, marks the first time in this primary cycle that Trump has sought to keep promises to punish members of his own party who oppose him on key issues.
The president has endorsed Gallerin, a farmer, businessman and retired Navy SEAL, who is running against Massie in Kentucky's Republican primary on May 19.
Massie is an outspoken Trump critic who opposed the White House-backed tax and spending measure and bucked Trump by pushing to have files related to the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein released.
He's also criticized the U.S. strike on Venezuela that toppled then-President Nicolás Maduro and, most recently, the war in Iran.
Trump posted on his social media site during his Wednesday trip, “The Republican Party’s Worst ‘Congressman,’ EVER, Thomas Massie."
Massie said he hoped the president would use his trip to help work for the district. He told the Cincinnati Inquirer that Trump's endorsement is “all my opponent has going for him." adding that Gallerin “has promised to be a rubber stamp when he gets to Washington D.C. and I don't think people here want a rubber stamp."
President Donald Trump speaks as he visits Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump poses for a photo during a visit to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Miami International Airport in Miami. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
