TAYLOR, MI – A 13-year-old girl in Taylor, Michigan, has been charged with murder in connection to the fatal stabbing of her 7-year-old sister. The charges include first-degree murder, felony murder, and first-degree child abuse, as announced by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Officers were initially called to the scene of Telegraph and Chestnut for a reported stabbing. Upon arrival, they discovered the younger child had been stabbed numerous times. Shortly after being transported to a hospital, the 7-year-old victim succumbed to her injuries.
The prosecutor’s office stated that the parents of the two young girls were not at home during the incident, having left the 13-year-old in charge of babysitting her younger sibling. An altercation between the sisters is presumed to have taken place, leading to the older sister lying in wait inside a bathroom and subsequently stabbing her younger sister multiple times.
The 13-year-old girl was the one to dial 911 following the assault. Prosecutor Worthy expressed her dismay at the horrific nature of the incident, especially given the young age of the alleged perpetrator.
Worthy’s office had deliberated over designating the teenager as an adult in the charges, a course that would have allowed the judge to issue either juvenile, adult, or blended sentences. However, considering the girl’s young age, they decided instead to maintain her status within the juvenile system.
Worthy justified this course of action, stating that doing so allows for a seven-year window in which the state has the opportunity to diagnose, treat, and hopefully rehabilitate the girl before her mandatory release at age 21.