The teenager accused of fatally stabbing a 16-year-old girl after she declined his invitation to prom will be tried as an adult, CNN.com reported.
Chris Plaskon, 16, was taken into custody on Friday after the tragic incident occurred at Jonathan Law High School. On Monday, his lawyer, Richard Meehan, Jr., said he would be spending time in a psych ward for at least two weeks.
The victim, 16-year-old Maren Sanchez, was described as "a bright light full of hopes and dreams" by her family. She died after being attacked in a school stairwell around 7 a.m.
"I did it," Plaskon allegedly told an officer, according to a probable cause statement filed with a Milford court on Tuesday. "Just arrest me."
Plaskon is being held on $3 million bail, CNN.com said. At a special court session inside of the mental health facility, Meehan said his client knew he was being tried as an adult. If convicted, Plaskon faces 25 to 60 years in prison.
He is expected to be formally arraigned on Friday, as long as he is allowed release from the facility.
In a statement, Meehan said Plaskon "is in need of continued psychiatric care and medication and should be housed in an age-appropriate correctional center when he is released from the emergency commitment."
On Tuesday, Plaskon's family released a statement expressing "the raw sadness we are left with by this unimaginable tragedy. Our hearts are forever broken."
"To the Sanchez family, our deepest sympathies. Please know that you are now, and forever, in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers. We join with the entire Milford community to celebrate the life and mourn the loss of this most vibrant and exceptional young woman. To our extended family, friends and neighbors and all who have reached out to us in our darkest hour with warmth, kindness, understanding and compassion, you cannot know how much it has meant to us. Thank you."
The prom, which was initially scheduled for Friday, was postponed following the brutal attack. Instead, students gathered at the beach to remember Sanchez in a vigil.
"Today it's really sinking in. Yesterday was like you knew what happened, but you didn't know what to think about it," Kassandra Sebas said, according to the New York Daily News.
"The fact that I was friends with her and the fact that a lot of my friends were friends with the person that did it is really kind of a weird thing."
