Teen girl held in fatal stabbing released from custody

The 17-year-old girl who was in custody for the fatal stabbing of Jordy Gruijters was released from custody on Tuesday. The 22-year-old died from his injuries after the incident in a popular square in the center of Rosmalen on Saturday night.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said they believed the girl may have acted in self-defense. A 16-year-old girl was also arrested in connection with the incident, and was released over the weekend. The case is still under investigation, and the OM said the older of the two girls will remain a suspect for the time being.

A spokesperson for the OM in Zeeland and West-Brabant said that it was clear a fight escalated out of control before the stabbing took place. "That quarrel started around 9:30 p.m. on a covered terrace with the two suspects on one side and a group on the other, including Jordy's sister. There was no physical violence at that time," said Janine Kramer.

The two young teens previously had an argument with Gruijter's sister, who was on the terrace on Dorpstraat with Gruijter's girlfriend. The latter is 32 weeks pregnant.

The situation moved off the terrace, where there was a security camera, and then escalated in an area outside of the camera's coverage. "It is clear that there was fighting at the time, but the exact circumstances and the degree in which the arrested suspects took part in this violence is not yet clear."

Someone alerted Gruijters to the violent incident. He arrived by car and "walked onto the terrace in an apparently violent state of mind. Images show that he physically confronts the two suspects, with the youngest suspect being thrown from her chair. The eldest was holding a cutlery knife, and Jordy is hit in the chest with the knife as he became violent with her," Kramer continued.

"He died a moment later from the injuries from that one stab wound."

The story from the OM is at odds with what Gruiter's sister and girlfriend claim. They said that the 17-year-old is a trained kickboxer, and punched the two women in the face without provocation. The pregnant woman suffered a broken nose.

However, the OM said that their initial determination is that it was an emergency situation which legally allows people involved to defend themselves "where one is suddenly attacked, and where only self-defense can fend off aggression."