One of two Wisconsin girls who tried to kill a classmate to win favor with a fictional horror character named Slender Man has been sentenced to 25 years in a mental hospital.
Anissa Weier 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.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday sentenced the 16-year-old Weier to be hospitalized for 25 years from the date of the crime, which would keep her institutionalized until age 37.
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Weier apologized in brief comments in court and said she accepted responsibility.
She and Morgan Geyser lured Payton Leutner into a wooded park near Milwaukee in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on. Leutner survived.
Geyser was also found not guilty by reason of mental disease and will be sentenced in February.
All three girls were 12 years old at the time.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 4:39 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017 to include Weier’s sentence.
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