Morgan Geyser, one of the two 12-year-old girls accused of stabbing her classmate 19 times to become "proxies" of a frightening internet meme, has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, her attorney Anthony Cotton said on Tuesday.
Geyser and Anissa Weier, both from southeastern Wisconsin, nearly killed their 12-year-old classmate in May after inviting her over for a sleepover and then luring her into the woods, where they stabbed her repeatedly. They told detectives they wanted to appease the fictional internet character "Slender Man."
A doctor for the state of Wisconsin and another hired by the defense said during a brief court hearing that Morgan Geyser is not mentally competent. The report has not been made public.
During the Wednesday hearing, Geyser sat emotionless while braiding her hair, the Daily Mail reported.
The court also granted a request from the defense team to test the 12-year-old for mental disease, which potentially could lead to an insanity plea.
A hearing for Geyser's mental competency will take place on Aug. 1. Weier's public defender has not yet evaluated her mental competency.
Typically, court proceedings would halt for treatment once the defendant was found incompetent. But Cotton filed a motion on Monday for the judge to allow pretrial proceedings for Geyser's case to continue even if she was found incompetent.
The preteens' attorneys said they hope to see the charges move to juvenile court. Under Wisconsin law, if an attempted homicide suspect is older than 10 their case begins in adult court.
The stabbing victim is now healing at home, and her family released a statement on Facebook this morning ahead of the girls' court date:
Our family fully supports the District Attorney's Office in their prosecution of this case. However, our daughter and our entire family continue to focus on both her physical and emotional healing. She continues to amaze us in her ability to persevere and move forward – taking one day at a time. Much of our strength comes from knowing that there is so much "good" coming from so many people, and we continue to witness this firsthand from the compassion given to our little girl from around the world. We encourage supporters who are interested in our daughter's progress to visit the below web sites for updates.
Morgan Geyser was found incompetent for trial during a hearing on Aug. 1. Geyser's attorney filed a motion last month for the judge to allow pretrial proceedings for Geyser's case to continue even if she was found incompetent. The attorneys for both Geyser and Anissa Weier said they hope to see the charges move to juvenile court.