Three Alabama teenage girls are being charged as adults in the brutal death of 17-year-old Lesley Luna Pantaleon.
The three teenage girls, Ta'Niya Merriweather, Erin Taylor, and Tyeshia Whisenant, all 16 years old, are facing a charge of capital murder before the Montgomery Court.
The gruesome details of what happened on the night that Pantaleon brutally met her end were revealed during the preliminary hearing of the case.
Aside from the three Alabama teenage girls, a boy was also tagged as one of the attackers and allegedly was the one who brought the knife used to stab Pantaleon, said Montgomery Police Detective Ashley Brown.
He was allegedly present the entire time that Pantaleon was attacked. However, not many details are revealed about the boy, according to Montgomery Advertiser.
During the preliminary hearing, the judge heard how Pantaleon was badly beaten with a pole, stabbed with the knife, and left for dead.
Her attackers returned a few minutes later to show another girl what they had done to Pantaleon. They, however, noticed that she still showed signs of life. Thus, they put her back on her truck, which they were using, brought her to a river, and threw her in, as reported by Daily Mail.
The three suspects are accused of capital murder because they premeditated the murder during a robbery. The prosecutor said that they had wanted to steal Pantaleon's vehicle and phone.
Committing the crime of capital murder in Alabama will be subject to the death penalty. But minors are spared from it by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Parents of Pantaleon told police that their daughter was missing on June 24. They last saw her driving her blue Chevy Trailblazer.
According to sources, Pantaleon had fought with Whisenant.
Brown alleged the three suspected girls tried to deceive the police. The suspects, however, gave conflicting accounts of what happened.
The incident started with a stolen gun that ended with Pantaleon's brutal death.
On June 24, the victim went to an apartment in west Montgomery to get a gun she allegedly owned. But the accused Whisenant struggled with the victim over it. The suspects then made Pantaleon rode her own truck with them, noted The Sun.
Also read: El Salvador Immigrant Wearing Devil Mask Slays GF and Sister, Charged with Two Counts of Murder
Taylor was driving when Whisenant and the boy ganged up on Pantaleon. They pulled at a secluded road near the woods wherein they found the metal pole. They used the pole to bludgeon their victim and stabbed her with the knife. They then left her for dead with her truck and cellphone.
Based on the investigation gathered by the police, it was Whisenant who decided that they should do something when the victim showed some signs of life upon their return.
Loading the half-dead girl into the truck and the murder weapon, they drove to a nearby creek, dumped Pantaleon into the water, as well as the pole, Montgomery Advertiser.
Whisenant told the police that Pantaleon had tried to swim.
After leaving the victim to drown, the group went to a fast-food joint and drank smoothies at 6 a.m. on June 25. The evidence is a video and time stamp receipt, cited Whats New 2day.
On July 4, the skeletal remains of Pantaleon were found in the Catoma Creek. The body was already in an advanced stage of decomposition that it was not possible to do an autopsy and determine Pantaleon's cause of death.
Prosecutor Scott Green said they stole and beat the victim, then drowned her to silence her. He called the accused teenagers are worse than monsters.
Related article: Skeletal Remains of Girl Discovered in Feces-Filled Basement Along With Her Brother in Dismal Condition
