Pretty desperate, isn't it. "Coercion" tho?? Coerced... by WHOM? is my next question. Her fellow accused? The internet?
Does anyone believe that either of these girls -actually- believed their families would die? I don't. I think MG might've had some blurry lines where reality is concerned, but not to that extent. And AW was along for the ride, with her new bff she 'won' by making sure the old bff was out of the picture.
I happen to think that you don't need to be delusional to be severely mentally ill. I think MG probably is, quite a bit moreso than AW - but AW's actions were not that of a healthy individual either. Though I wonder if her sickness is emotional, rather than mental.
And before anyone accuses -me- of "making excuses" for these kids (like anybody here has been, sheesh) - even if they get 25 years, they'll be out in time to have a life and a family and many years of freedom ahead. No matter what sentence they get, I hope they're treated like the sick children they actually are, so hopefully when they get out they're not a threat to anyone else.
This was the part that I thought was silly. "An attorney for one of two Wisconsin girls accused of repeatedly stabbing a classmate and leaving her for dead has argued that the charge against her should be dismissed because she believed a fictional horror character called Slender Man would kill her family if they didn't attack their friend — a belief he said amounted to coercion."
I think in very young juveniles, which I do consider them to be...coercion from another person is a fine point if it's there. A mentally unstable young person can be deeply coerced by someone manipulated and terrifying them. I don't know if it's at play here, but the defense would be horrible if they didn't at least bring it up. Now, being coerced by a boogeyman she believed in. That sets a precedent that I don't like. And it's just not really provable, IMO.