Girls In 'Columbine-Like' Hit List Case To Be Held Until School Ends
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - An Oakland County judge is keeping two middle schoolers in custody until classes are done for the school year after authorities say the girls created a hit list naming teachers and fellow students.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Betsey Hage on Monday told Judge Cheryl Matthews she had "grave concerns" about the safety of the public should the girls, ages 13 and 14, be released. They've been held since last month at Oakland County Children's Village, a juvenile facility.
Matthews said the girls could be freed on bond if they agree to have their movements monitored and restricted. However, the earliest Matthews said she would let them be released is Saturday, after school ends at Anderson Middle School in Berkley.
The girls are charged as juveniles with threatening to commit an act of terrorism and making a false report to another person. At Monday's hearing, both appeared upset and frequently brushed at their eyes, according to the Detroit News, and one girl's lips trembled as her case was discussed.
Court documents say the girls may have been partly inspired by the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting. Attorney Wanda Cal, who represents the 13-year-old, told Matthews there was no intent to harm anyone. Attorney J. Patrick Ogurek, who represents the 14-year-old, said there were no weapons in his client's home.
"My client is a young lady with a big heart, she wouldn't hurt anyone," Ogurek said. "Right now she's scared, lonely and needs to come home."
Lawyers for both girls have requested jury trials.
[Report: 2 Middle School Girls Face Terrorism Charges For 'Columbine-Like' Hit List]
The girls have been in custody since May 22, when officials at Anderson Middle School caught wind of their plan. According to school officials, another student brought one of the girls' notebook to the principal's office which contained "some very troubling information," including a list of students and staff that the student was upset with.
Both students told police they were only "joking around," but documents obtained by the newspaper show that the notebook indicated the girls planed to pull off their caper "in the near future."
"… The plan detailed a map of the gym, awaiting for the students to be at an assembly and also bringing in small guns in backpacks while trying to overtake the office and staff, and then taking out the people who have wronged them," according to the report.
The report goes on to say that one of the girls developed most of the details and "had spoken (with the other girl) about obtaining weapons from her dad, had watched Columbine videos on YouTube recently."
The girls are due back in court for a pretrial hearing on June 13. If convicted, they could be held at a juvenile detention center until their 19th birthdays.
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