Slender Man suspect won't be moved for psychiatric treatment
WAUKESHA, Wis. - A judge has denied a request to move a 12-year-old Wisconsin girl to a psychiatric center after she allegedly stabbed a classmate to please the horror character Slender Man.
The judge also denied a motion to reduce her $500,000 bail to a signature bond. The girl's attorney, Anthony Cotton, had asked the judge for the move as well as the bail reduction, saying the defendant needs treatment for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.
The judge expressed concerned about her being a flight risk, but Cotton argued she has no friends and no car and couldn't get far.
The 12-year-old girl and her 13-year-old friend, both of Waukesha, are charged as adults with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the near-fatal stabbing of Payton Leutner, who was 12 at the time of the attack. Court documents allege the suspects lured Payton to a park in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on May 31, 2014 and stabbed her 19 times.
Prosecutors have said the defendants plotted to kill Payton for months.
Both the Associated Press and CBS News aren't naming either of the girls charged in case they end up in juvenile court, where proceedings are closed to the public. If tried as adults, they each could be sentenced to up to 65 years in the state prison system.
The girls' attorneys have asked a judge to dismiss the charges, saying they legitimately believed they had to kill their friend to protect their families from Slender Man's wrath. As an alternative, they have also asked for the case to be moved to juvenile court where a conviction could send them to a secure facility until age 25.
Both girls were found competent to stand trial and thus far, a judge has ordered that the case remain in adult court.