Violent incidents involving female students surge on campuses, in schools, authorities say

A female Frostburg State University student intervenes in an altercation at an off-campus party and gets slashed by a woman hosting the celebration, authorities say. Two Bowie State University suitemates spar over music, and one woman cuts the other’s throat. Female roommates at Howard University argue in the kitchen, and one throws a pot of hot water at the other.

Violent episodes between females are on the rise, authorities said, on playgrounds, in high school hallways and on college campuses across the country, where at least four women have been charged with killing female students since March. The violence is manifesting in an increased number of random assaults, group fights, flash-mob crimes and vicious one-on-one attacks, including the killings at Frostburg State on Nov. 6 and at Bowie State in September.

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 Maryland state police announced that a 19-year-old student at Bowie State University has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of her roommate on campus.

(BALTIMORE SUN) - An argument among two women ended in death for Kortneigh McCoy, 18, at Frostburg State University.

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• Girl, 17, alledgedly used box cutter to wound student
• Howard student argues self-defense in scalding roommate
• Violent incidents among female students surge
• Frostburg State student killed in off-campus fight

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• Friends of accused student express shock
• Bowie State student held in death of suitemate
• Photos: Bowie State student fatally stabbed in dorm
• Suitemate accused in fatal stabbing at Bowie State
• Bowie State student fatally stabbed in dorm
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Although those cases have made headlines, the Howard scalding had not been publicly reported. It occurred Oct. 20, when pre-med major Kierstyn Jeffries, 20, of Detroit, allegedly threw a pot of hot water at Caije Murphy, 20, a pre-law student from Sellner, Fla., according to court documents. The two shared an on-campus apartment.

Jeffries was barred from campus and charged in D.C. Superior Court with assault with significant bodily harm. She was released on her own recognizance pending a hearing Wednesday, said a source with firsthand knowledge of the case. Murphy’s chest was seriously burned.

Murphy told police that she and Jeffries argued as Jeffries cooked dinner because Jeffries was using dishes that Murphy’s mother had bought for her. As the argument grew heated, the students “began to swing and hit and scratch each other,” a court statement says. Jeffries is accused of snatching a pan off the stove and flinging its scalding contents at Murphy, who was hospitalized at Washington Hospital Center. She has returned to classes.

Experts said college campuses are fertile ground for conflict. Young people tasting independence for the first time might be less willing to compromise in confrontations. Many students feel isolated until they find the right friends and social activities, leaving them without a support system to help resolve problems. Primary schools have also reported violent incidents involving girls.

“Every week, there is some sort of violent altercation between females and the arrest of young females for violent crimes,” said Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert (D). “People are figuring out you can’t let them get away with it. Law enforcement has to treat females who are violent the same way they do males if they are going to [change] it.”

As a result of concerns about violence, Howard and other colleges and universities have established zero-tolerance policies. Students who live in residential facilities receive training in “conflict resolution, impulse control and anger management,” said Elaine Bourne Heath, Howard’s dean of special student services, which oversees residential life. Problems between roommates are addressed through mediation or swapping rooms, and students who behave violently are expelled.