The judge presiding over the Slender Man case Monday decided to suspend the trial proceedings pending a decision from the Court of Appeals on whether to try the two girls as adults or juveniles.
Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, both 12 years old at the time, were charged as adults with attempted first-degree homicide after being accused of stabbing their friend Payton Leutner 19 times in May 2014 in Waukesha, Wis., according to ABC News.
Under Wisconsin law, it is mandatory for cases to begin in adult trial if they involve suspects at least 10 years old who are charged with first-degree attempted intentional homicide.
However, attorneys are arguing that Waukesha District Court Judge Michael Bohren didn't properly apply the law when weighing the evidence and testimony presented during hearings this summer, which resulted in him ruling that the case should remain in adult court, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
After learning that the question to try the girls as adults or juveniles had been brought before the Court of Appeals, Bohren postponed the case, which was supposed to go on trial Oct. 15. If the case remains in adult court, it likely won't be ready for trial until next year.
Weier and Geyser could be sentenced up to 60 years in prison if the case remains in adult court and are convicted. On the other hand, if the case is moved to juvenile court and the two are convicted, they would be incarcerated a maximum of three years and subjected to strict community supervision until they're both 18, according to the Journal Sentinel.
In August, a Wisconsin court entered not guilty pleas on behalf of both defendants after their lawyers declined to do so.
