KILLER, 17, CLAIMS SHE ONLY STABBED BOYFRIEND TO DEATH WHILE 'HORSEPLAYING' WITH KNIFE

A Miami teenager who said she fatally stabbed her boyfriend while the pair were 'horseplaying' with a knife has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Jahara Malik, now 18, arrived to court in a beige wrap-around dress and entered a guilty plea after knifing her boyfriend to death over an argument on December 20, 2024. 

Yakheim Lollar, 17, and Malik had allegedly been arguing over Lollar trying to end their relationship, according to the victim's mother. 

Lollar had been found by paramedics with a knife wound to his chest in the third-floor garage of his apartment complex just after 11pm. He succumbed to his injuries around an hour later. 

Security footage saw Malik and a friend leaving a vehicle in the parking garage, with Lollar bleeding from his chest and Malik dropping a knife, police told the Miami Herlad. 

Malik claimed she grabbed the knife instead of her usual pepper spray during a ride share, and said she was 'horseplaying with the victim.' 

Police let her go until the medical examiner's office determined it had been murder and she was arrested in January 2025. 

Malik was 17 at the time but charged as an adult. After previously pleading not guilty, her change in plea was not made as part of a deal. 

'She took my son's life for no reason. She took my son's life because he was honest [with] her that he didn't want to be with her,' Lollar's mother Nathalie Jean told NBC 6. 

'And she not realizing her actions, her behavior and her entitlement is the reason why he didn't want to be with her.'

Malik's attorney Larry Handfield argued that the stabbing was an accident. 

'You have to understand that this was an accidental situation, this was not intended, and this young girl has no prior history in the juvenile system,' Handfield argued, the outlet reported. 

'Her whole defense is horseplaying. Who horseplays with a knife? You are learned as a kid that you don't play with sharp objects, right?' Jean said. 

Judge Christine Hernandez granted Malik be placed on house arrest at her bond court appearance last weekend, according to NBC 6. Beforehand, she had been allowed to go outside with GPS monitoring.

Jean, however, is outraged with the decision and is calling for Malik to receive the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars.

'Right now, we feel like there was no justice served. She's still able to go out, even though if they got her in lockdown. What is the difference between her being in jail and at home? She still can't go nowhere, so why didn't she stay in jail?' the victims mother asked. 

'I want the max. That is what I want. A life for a life,' Jean said. 

The victim's mother was joined by family, friends and classmates. Many wore shirts with pictures of Lollar printed on them. 

Jean isn't convinced that Malik changed her plea out of the goodness of her heart, and told the Miami Herald: 'I feel like she just don't have any options left.'

'I don't think her guilty [plea] is genuine because if it was genuine she would have taken accountability the day it happened,' she added. 

Jean said she believes Malik should be sent to jail and said the young girl is dangerous and immature, noting a video of her allegedly fighting in school and being suspended, NBC 6 reported. 

Malik is set to be sentenced on May 5. 

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2026-03-16T18:12:35Z