Slender Man attorney gives up on juvenile court

One of two Wisconsin girls accused of trying to kill their classmate to please horror character Slender Man has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

Weier and her friend, Morgan Geyser, have been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the May 2014 attack on Payton Leutner.

Leutner was stabbed 19 times and left for dead in a Waukesha park the morning after a sleepover party for Geyser’s 12th birthday, but managed to crawl near a path, where she was found by a passing bicyclist. It inspired a horror fad that influenced YouTube and the video game industry with releases like 2013’s Slender: The Arrival. The court appointed two doctors to the case and ordered a report be due on October 6, according to online court records.

Weier and Geyser could each be sentenced to up to 65 years in prison if convicted as adults. Their lawyers are fighting to get them processed as minors, and supervised until they turn 18.

Weier and Geyser, both 14, were 12 when prosecutors say they plotted and attempted to kill their sixth-grade classmate and friend Payton Leutner in May 2014.

“Under a not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, the hospital must constantly evaluate what is the least restrictive means necessary to both treat her and protect the public”, explained Weier’s attorney Maura McMahon.

The Associated Press initially chose not to name the girls in case they were tried in juvenile court, where proceedings are secret and penalties aren’t almost as harsh.

According to a report by ABC News, the 2nd District Appeals court affirmed a lower court’s determination that it was reasonable to try both girls as adults. If a dispute arises over their mental states, a hearing would ensue and a jury would ultimately make the decision.

The 14-year-old girl and Geyser were captured on the outskirts of Waukesha. They said they were walking to a national forest in northern Wisconsin where they planned to join Slender Man at his mansion, investigators allege.

Anyone age 10 or older who faces that charge in Wisconsin is automatically considered an adult.

Defense attorneys have requested juries from outside of Waukesha County due to media attention.