The victim’s relatives had objected to house arrest and rejected the defense claim that the deadly stabbing was horseplay.
MIAMI, Fla. — Yahkeim “Keimo” Lollar’s family left a Miami-Dade courtroom Tuesday with the prison sentence it had demanded for months after Jahara Malik received 17 years for stabbing the 17-year-old high school football player to death.
The sentence closed the criminal case without a trial after Malik, 18, pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter with a deadly weapon. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Christine Hernandez also ordered five years of reporting probation and required Malik to write yearly letters during probation on each Dec. 20, the anniversary of Lollar’s death. The punishment was below the state’s request of 20 years in prison and above the defense request for youthful offender treatment and boot camp.
For Lollar’s relatives, the hearing was the latest step in a public fight that began after the Dec. 20, 2024, stabbing at an apartment complex in the 6100 block of Northwest Sixth Court. His family attended court hearings, spoke at vigils and objected when Malik was allowed to remain outside jail under monitoring while the case moved forward. They said Lollar’s death could not be reduced to a moment of horseplay. His mother, Nathalie Jean, said after the sentencing that she was glad her son could rest in peace knowing justice had been served.
Lollar’s father, Darveed Lollar Sr., told the court his son was known as Kemo and was a respected young man. He said Lollar had been taught not to abuse women and trusted Malik. “Kemo wasn’t hanging around the wrong crowd,” he said. “It took for somebody he trusted and loved to do him like that.” The father’s statement centered the family’s view of the case: a teenager died not because of strangers, street violence or chance, but during a private meeting with someone close to him.
The family’s anger also surfaced through Zeldrina Beecham, Lollar’s aunt, whose victim impact statement was among the most emotional moments of the hearing. She said she was doing everything in her power not to physically attack Malik in the courtroom. “It will always be a fact that you are a murderer,” Beecham said. “If you was to go to hell, I wouldn’t spit on you to put you out.” Her statement reflected a grief that had not eased during the 16 months between the stabbing and sentencing.
Police said the fatal encounter happened late at night in the parking garage of Lollar’s apartment complex. Officers responded around 11 p.m. and found Lollar with a chest wound. He was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center and pronounced dead at 11:53 p.m. Investigators said the wound came from a knife Malik had taken with her earlier that day after she could not find the pepper spray she usually carried for protection. She had been shopping with a friend before meeting Lollar in the garage.
Malik told detectives she and Lollar were horseplaying before the stabbing. That account became a central dispute in the case. Prosecutor Kristen Rodriguez told the judge the physical evidence did not support treating the death as a harmless accident. She said the knife went through a hoodie, a shirt and muscle, clipped a rib and entered Lollar’s heart. Rodriguez said an accident is something without foresight or a reasonable ability to prevent, and argued that pulling a knife during play made serious harm foreseeable.
The defense did not dispute that Malik stabbed Lollar, but argued the crime should be punished through the lens of youth, immaturity and rehabilitation. Her attorney described the stabbing as horseplay that went too far and said Malik’s use of the knife showed poor judgment, not intent to kill. The defense asked Hernandez to sentence Malik as a youthful offender and send her to a Miami-Dade corrections boot camp program. Supporters said Malik had no prior arrests and could be rebuilt through therapy and discipline.
Lollar’s relatives had opposed leniency long before the sentencing hearing. At an earlier bond hearing, Jean questioned the defense description in blunt terms, asking who horseplays with a knife and saying children are taught not to play with sharp objects. After Malik was granted bond and GPS monitoring, the family said the justice system had failed Lollar. Prosecutors later sought tighter release rules, and Malik’s conditions were made stricter while she awaited the next stages of the case.
The case did not move straight from the stabbing to an arrest. Malik was not taken into custody the night Lollar died, and the family publicly questioned why charges were not immediate when police knew who had the knife. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage that showed Malik dropping a knife near the scene, according to an arrest report. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide weeks later. Malik was arrested in January 2025 and charged with manslaughter with a deadly weapon.
When Malik appeared in court in February 2025, Judge Stacy D. Glick set bond at $50,000 and ordered a GPS ankle monitor. Glick said Malik did not appear to be a flight risk because she had no prior arrests, but raised concern about whether she would stay in the area once charges were formally filed. Malik remained in custody at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of that hearing, while lawyers prepared for continued fights over release conditions and where she could live while awaiting trial.
By March 2026, Malik chose to plead guilty without a plea deal. That decision removed the need for a trial but did not settle the punishment. The victim’s family wanted the maximum, which had been described in court coverage as 30 years in prison. Prosecutors asked Hernandez for 20 years followed by 10 years of probation. Malik’s lawyers asked for boot camp, saying the court should not treat a 17-year-old with no record the same as a repeat violent offender. Hernandez’s final sentence landed three years below the state’s request.
Before the judge ruled, Malik apologized and said she had accepted responsibility. She said she stayed after the stabbing because she wanted Lollar to live. “I understand that trying to help does not undo the harm,” Malik said. “I was reckless. That knife should never have been out, and because of that, a life was lost.” She told the court that Lollar’s family wanted prison but that she was already in her own prison for the rest of her life.
Hernandez said the court could not ignore that a life was lost or the manner in which it was taken. She said the sentence had to reflect the seriousness of what occurred, accountability and public safety. Malik’s age mattered, but it did not excuse the conduct, the judge said. The probation letter requirement added a formal reminder that the court expected Malik to mark the date, the death and its effect long after her prison term ends.
After the sentence, Malik’s relatives cried and one uncle said justice had not been served for his niece because the court failed to fully recognize her age. Lollar’s relatives hugged and applauded as they left. The split reaction underscored the case’s final divide: one family grieving a son gone at 17, the other watching an 18-year-old begin a prison term that will cover much of her young adulthood.
The next fixed milestone in the case is the Dec. 20 anniversary that the judge tied to Malik’s probation letters. Malik remains sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by five years of reporting probation.
Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.