Some justice but no peace for slain girl's family.

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Author: Mfuni, Tanangachi1

There's a sense of justice, but no peace for the family of Tyisha McCoy, the youth murdered by a man she met on a teen chat line.

Kenny Smith, the ex-convict who strangled the 13-year-old to death last year, was sentenced to 25 years in jail last Wednesday.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marcy Kahn, who sentenced Smith, had earlier sentenced his accomplice Parris Prance to 18 years in prison, with 5 years probation.

Though not involved in Tyisha's murder, France, together with Smith, stole thousands of dollars worth of cash and jewelry from the apartment where Tyisha was living.

"Every day I hope Tyisha's death haunts them," said the teenager's mom, Rhonda Ramseur. Ramseur and her family are still coping with the death of her vibrant daughter.

"I still can't believe this is happening, really," said Ramseur. Ramseur says since Tyisha's murder she's had trouble sleeping without medication, and is fearful of living life.

"It's made me more leery of things," said the stay-at-home mom. "I don't want to go nowhere, I don't want to take a chance because anything can happen," said Ramseur, who is currently undergoing therapy.

At the time Tyisha was killed, the teen was estranged from her mother and living with her guardian, Carolyn Thompson. Tyisha met 24-year-old Kenny Smith on a teen chat line called the Loup, a known petri dish for child predators.

Tyisha agreed to let Smith come to her guardian's apartment and braid her hair.

When the 13-year-old didn't pay for the job, Smith returned with his assailant, 22-year-old France, and strangled her.

"They destroyed our family and their family," said Ramseur.

Since the death of her daughter Ramseur and her family members hosted the first Teen Chat Line Awareness" cookout. The event, held on July 2nd at Harlem's Rucker Park, was to alert parents and young people to the dangers of talking to strangers on teen chat lines like the Loup.

Members of Tyisha's family have vowed to keep the two responsible for the teen's death in jail, and block any possibility for parole.

"I don't have any respect for them," said Tyisha's uncle Jack Harvey. "I don't have to forgive; I can't see my niece anymore."

Tyisha's mom said that she hopes while Smith and France are behind bars they "think about what life is."

"For her to have to go so brutal," she said. "They went out there and took somebody's life for no reason â€" no reason."

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): TYISHA MCCOY

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By Tanangachi Mfuni, Amsterdam News Staff