
Two girls charged with first degree attempted murder of a classmate in Wisconsin await an Appeals Court's decision over whether or not they should be tried as adults or juveniles.
A Wisconsin judge suspended the case of two teenage girls this Monday as an appeals court decides whether to try the pair as adults or minors. According to a report from ABC News, the two girls stand accused of attempting to kill a classmate based on instructions from a fictional character, Slender Man.
Judge Michael Bohren postponed the girls’ trial date set for this October and delayed pre-trial motions. The two girls face charges of attempted murder after they attacked classmate Payton Leutner in May 2014. Investigators allege that the two girls lured Payton into a park where they stabbed her 19 times. Payton was left to die in the woods, but she was able to crawl to a more open space where she was discovered by a cyclist. She has since returned to school after recovering from her injuries.
Defense attorneys have filed an appeal challenging the decision to keep the case in adult court, claiming that the girls were only 12 years old when the attack occurred. The Court of Appeals has issued no statement as to what it plans to do surrounding the decision.
Under Wisconsin state law, anyone who is charged with attempted murder over the age of 10 is considered an adult and will be tried as one. The two girls have not been identified in case the decision is made to continue the trial in juvenile court.
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