A 12-year-old girl shot her Dad and then turned the gun on herself after allegedly plotting with a friend to murder their families and run away together.
Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier says officers were called to a shooting in Texas after neighbours alerted that a 12-year-old girl was lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the head.
For weeks, the girl and her friend have reportedly been planning the brutal murder plot, which included killing their families and even their pets before driving off together to Georgia, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
Police responded to the call in Weatherford, Texas, around 11:30 pm on Tuesday and found the 38-year-old father in the house with a shot to his abdomen.
Both were taken to local hospitals by air ambulance and their current condition is still unknown.
The girl's friend from Lufkin, around 75 miles from Weatherford never went through with the ploy to shoot her family.
Investigators discovered that after killing her father, the 12-year-old girl planned to drive to pick up her female friend before running away together to Georgia.
While the investigation is ongoing, Parker County Sheriff’s investigators have charged the Lufkin juvenile with criminal conspiracy in the planning of the murder plot.
The sheriff’s office does not identify juvenile suspects and so they are also not releasing the adults’ names in order to protect their identities.
Sheriff Authier said the case is in its early stages and is under active investigation.
“Due to the injuries, the age of the juveniles and the sensitive case matter, information released regarding this case will be limited,” said Sheriff Authier.
In Texas, a person can be charged in a juvenile court for criminal offences committed on or after their 10th birthday and a person who is at least 10 years old and under the age of 17 can be charged as a juvenile.
Juvenile courts don’t have minimum or maximum sentences in Texas and in some cases, people are held on probation lasting until their 18th birthday.
Earlier this week, a 15-year-old Fort Worth girl who was accused of being involved in a homicide was sentenced on Friday to an indeterminate time at a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility.
Judge Alex Kim said Friday that officials at the state facility will decide on the length of the sentence, which could be until she is 19 years old.
