12-year-old girls stab friend 19 times in Wisconsin

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- Police say two 12-year-old girls lured a friend into some woods in southeastern Wisconsin where one of them held her down as the other stabbed her 19 times.

The 12-year-old victim survived the attack on Saturday in Waukesha and police say her condition is stable.

On Saturday morning, a bicyclist discovered the 12-year-old girl who had been stabbed multiple times trying to make her way out of a wooded area in Waukesha. She had been lured there by two middle school classmates after a sleepover the night before. They were going to play games, Waukesha's police chief says, but the real intent was to kill.

"Once there, one suspect held down the victim while the other suspect stabbed the victim 19 times in the arms, legs and torso. Many of the stab wounds hit major organs, but incredibly and thankfully, the victim survived this brutal assault," said Chief Russell Jack, Waukesha Police Dept.

The two young girls said to be responsible were later spotted and taken into custody by sheriff's deputies. They appeared in court Monday afternoon, and were charged with first degree attempted homicide. Because they are juveniles, their names and faces were not revealed. Under Wisconsin law they could be charged as adults.

Police said the two girls were picked up within hours of the attack, and have confessed to their actions. They explained to police that they'd regularly visited an internet site that carried horror and murder stories, and they figured that a real murder would win them favor with a fictional web site character they believed to be real.

"There is not just one internet site they were accessing to get this information. There are multiple websites of a similar nature that deal with the particular incident," said Chief Jack.

The act, the ages, and possibly unfettered internet access, the chief says, makes this a very, very disturbing investigation.

"This should serve as a wake-up call for all parents. Parents are strongly encouraged to restrict and monitor their children's internet usage," said Chief Jack.

The victim was stabbed in the torso, legs and arms, but was able to crawl from the woods to a road where she was discovered by a bicyclist. The suspects were arrested several hours later.

A knife believed to have been used in the stabbing has been recovered. The two girls were each ordered held on $500,000 bond.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.