Indiana ordered to find facility for girl accused in attack
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - A northern Indiana judge and juvenile court magistrate have ordered the state Division of Mental Health to find a place in a psychiatric institution for a 12-year-old Elkhart girl accused of fatally stabbing her stepmother.
The Elkhart Truth reports (http://bit.ly/1jbeR80 ) that Juvenile Court Magistrate Deborah Domine and Circuit Judge Terry Shewmaker ordered that the girl be placed in a facility after more than 10 mental health treatment centers refused to accept her. Domine, who signed the order Monday, called the decision a "last resort" and the "only option available."
Domine said the girl remains a risk to herself and others in the Elkhart County Juvenile Detention Center as she waits to be placed in a treatment facility and her condition worsens.
"She needs treatment, now," Domine wrote. "Doctor, after doctor, after doctor have concluded that this child needs help."
A juvenile delinquency petition for murder, which is similar to formal charges in adult court, was filed against the girl Aug. 3. Police say the girl had argued with her stepmother late on July 23 and then started a fire in her own bedroom. When the woman confronted her stepdaughter about the fire, police say the girl stabbed her.
The girl told people she heard voices and had an alter ego months before the stabbing occurred, court documents show, and she reportedly "begged" her father for help months before the incident.
Court documents say she allegedly stabbed her stepmother and father at the direction of "Laughing Jack," a murderous clown character found on horror story website Creepypasta.
Two psychiatrists and a psychologist have diagnosed symptoms of dissociative identity disorder, where a patient has two or more distinct personalities, documents show. Two of the doctors said she also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The court order requires the girl to be committed to the Division of Mental Health for confinement and treatment in a psychiatric institution until her competency is restored, or until a more appropriate treatment facility that accepts the girl is found and approved by the state Department of Child Services.
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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com