Teen, convicted of killing when she was 13, appeals

One of the youngest homicide defendants in Shelby County history was back in court Tuesday seeking to overturn her 2008 conviction in the stabbing death of a Memphis teen mother.
Defendant, Terrica Yarber was charged with murder just 10 days after her 13th birthday. She was charged with killing 18-year-old Otisa McGaha, 18, on June 9, 2008, during an altercation in the courtyard of the Latham Heights apartments in South Memphis.
Yarber is seeking to overturn a Juvenile Court referee who found her guilty of the delinquent act of second-degree murder and committed her to the custody of the Tennessee department of Children's Services until her 19th birthday.
Several witnesses stated that McGaha was trying to break up a fight when she was stabbed in the chest and left arm by Yarber. McGaha died several hours later at a Memphis hospital.

Defense attorney Coleman Garrett presented Yarber's older sister, who contends Terrica was nowhere near the location when McGaha was killed and that another girl had a knife.
Garrett also said his client is left-handed and that the stab wound to McGaha's upper left chest indicated that a right-handed person was responsible.
Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Chancellor didn't entirely buy that argument.
"In my opinion, these injuries could have been caused by either a right-handed or a left-handed person," the doctor testified Tuesday.
State prosecutor Terre Fratesi said Yarber is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, homicide defendant in local history. Judge John Colton Jr. did not indicate whether he will rule today from the bench or issue a written ruling later.