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One of two girls who admitted to stabbing a classmate 19 times as a tribute to the “Slender Man” horror character could spend up to 25 years in a mental institution.
A Waukesha County judge on Thursday ordered Anissa Weier committed to the maximum sentence for her role in stabbing Payton Leutner, after she pled guilty earlier this fall to helping Morgan Geyser plan and carry out the 2014 attack. The two girls lured Leutner into a wooded area in Waukesha, where Geyser stabbed her while Weier stood by. Leutner survived after she crawled out of the woods and found help.
Weier pled guilty in August to her role in the attack, but claimed she was not responsible because of mental illness. A jury agreed with that argument in September.
Reading a statement in court Thursday, Weier apologized for the damage she had caused and pledged not to let it happen again. “I want everybody involved to know that I deeply regret everything that happened that day,” she said. “Nothing I say is going to fix what I broke.”
The now 16-year-old Weier was 12 at the time of the stabbing and could be in an institution until she turns 37. As part of a plea deal, she has agreed not to seek release from an institution until at least 2020.
Geyser, who was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect earlier this year. She will be sentenced in February.