One of the two girls convicted of stabbing another girl in 2014 over the horror character Slender Man asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court this week to rule that her case should have been tried in juvenile court.
Morgan Geyser and Anisa Weier were convicted of attacking their friend, Payton Leutner, in a Wisconsin park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier encouraged her.
All three were 12 years old at the time.
Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in adult court to avoid a prison sentence. She was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, according to The Associated Press. However, she was ordered to spend 40 years in a mental health institution.
Geyser’s attorney, Matthew Pinx, said in a Friday petition to the court that the girl thought she had to kill Lautner or the horror character would harm her or her family. The attorney argued that she was acting in self-defense and should have been tried in juvenile court.
The attorney also said that Geyser gave statements to law enforcement before she was read her rights, and she did not understand the rights she gave up after agreeing to speak alone to a detective following the incident, the AP reported.
The 2nd District Court of Appeals found last month denied that Geyser’s case was overcharged and belonged in a juvenile court.