'Slender Man' stabbing suspects back in court in Waukesha
WAUKESHA, Wis. (WLS) -- Both of the 12-year-old suspects accused of stabbing a friend 19 times and leaving her in a park to die to appease an internet meme called "Slender Man" appeared in court Wednesday in an extension of a preliminary hearing.
The attorney for one of the girls requested, and was granted, a competency evaluation for his client by the court commissioner.
"We have reason to believe that there are issues with her competency," said Anthony Cotton, defense attorney for one of the suspects. "Also, we would ask the court to appoint a doctor for that purpose."
Joseph Smith Jr., defense attorney for the other suspect, said his team is "still assessing our client's ability to understand the proceedings."
The two suspects, who are both 12-year-old girls, are charged with attempted murder as adults, but their identities are being withheld in accordance with a judge's orders.
The girls allegedly confessed to the stabbing, saying they planned to kill the girl to win favor with a mythical character called "Slender Man." The victim survived the attack and crawled out of the wooded area where the suspects left here, where a bicyclist found her.
"Due to the nature of the offense that she's charged with and her age," said Smith, Jr. of his client, "there are some additional issues that we can bring up in the preliminary hearing that...we can't adequately represent our client unless we have access to the information the state has prior to the preliminary hearing, and that's what we're asking the court to decide."
The defendants' families left court today without commenting.
The girls' attorneys tell us the suspects' families are deeply concerned about the victim in this case.
"They just feel so terribly sad for the victim and her family," said Cotton. "This is a tragedy for everybody involved."
The girls attorneys are expected to argue at some point in the future that the case be moved back into juvenile court. The suspects are due back in court July 2.
