Updated
Morgan Geyser was just 12 years old when she lured her classmate Payton Leutner to the woods and stabbed her 19 times.
At the time, she believed the attack would help her win favour with a fictional horror character called Slender Man — a paranormal figure with spidery limbs and a blank face that kills children.
Today, Geyser broke down in tears before being sentenced to 40 years in a mental hospital for the crime.
"I just want to let Bella and her family know that I'm sorry," she said, using Leutner's nickname.
"And I hope she's doing well."
When did the stabbing happen?
The stabbing took place just under four years ago in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Leutner was lured into the woods on a Saturday by Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, before being stabbed multiple times.
She was then left for dead, but later crawled out of the woods and got help from a passing cyclist.
All three girls were 12 at the time.
Who is Slender Man?
Slender Man emerged as a meme on an online forum in 2009, and was created by a man named Eric Knudsen, also known as 'Victor Surge'.
After gaining popularity on the forum, the character began popping up in online fiction, featured in a YouTube series, and eventually got its own computer game.
It was said to lurk near forests, stalk people, and kill those who learned too much about it.
It will this year feature in its own film, directed by Sylvain White.
What happened to Weier?
Weier was sentenced to 25 years in a mental hospital in December.
She pleaded guilty in August to being a party to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, but she claimed she wasn't responsible for her actions because she was mentally ill.
In September, a jury agreed.
And what now for Geyser?
At her sentencing, Judge Michael Bohren said he believed Geyser remained a risk to hurt herself and others, and called it "an issue of community protection".
He granted the maximum penalty that prosecutors had sought, saying: "What we can't forget is this was an attempted murder".
According to one doctor, Geyser was still hearing voices from someone named "Maggie" as recently as September.
The doctor, Brooke Lundbohm, said she had made significant progress over the last three years, but she emphatically believed she was still a danger to herself and others.
"This is not a close call," she said.
Geyser's attorneys argued that she suffered from schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum disorder, making her prone to delusions and paranoid beliefs.
They asked for her to be moved to a less restrictive facility with children her age and the possibility of being able to be on outings with supervision if she is well enough.
But two doctors called by the defence said Geyser no longer showed psychotic symptoms.
"I believe at the present time she is no more dangerous than any adolescent her age," Dr Kenneth Robbins said.
AP/ABC
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, crime, law-crime-and-justice, television, united-states
First posted