Two pre-teen girls were charged as adults for the brutal stabbing of another 12-year-old girl in the woods of southeastern Wisconsin, prosecutors said.
The charges of fist-degree attempted homicide were issued Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court, the Associated Press reported. The two girls, both 12, are accused of stabbing their 12-year-old friend 19 times in the park on Saturday because they wanted to please a supernatural character they learned about on the Internet. As of Monday the victim was listed in stable condition, the AP reported.
Each girl faces 60 years in prison if they are convicted.
"It is extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police," Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said according to the AP.
The girls, whose names have not been released, wanted to kill their friend so they could become "proxies" of the "Slender Man", a demon they learned about on the horror story website creepypasta.wikia.com. One of the girls said she dreams about the Slender Man and that he can read her mind, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the AP.
One girl told police they planned to run away and live with the demon in his mansion in the Nicolet National Forrest, according to the complaint.
The girls planned the murder for months before they decided to carry out the attack at a slumber party they invited the victim to on Friday, according the criminal complaint. But the attackers ended up delaying the plan until all three girls were playing hide-and-seek in a wooded park the next day.
The girls repeatedly stabbed the 12-year-old with a knife, with one instructing the other to "go ballistic, go crazy," the complaint read. They left the victim lying in the woods.
A biker found the girl lying on the sidewalk, where she managed to crawl. Doctors said a stab wound barely missed her artery.
"I recognize their young ages but it's still unbelievable," said Court Commissioner Tomas Pieper, who set bail for each girl at $500,000, the AP reported.
The defendants are due back in court on June 11.
