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Alleged preteen 'Slender Man' killer not fit for trial, judge says
One of two original Slender Man Photoshop-manipulated images.
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Eric Knudsen
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One of the two 12-year-old girls who allegedly stabbed a classmate of theirs to death in an attempt to make fictional online meme character "Slender Man" happy has been ruled mentally incompetent and unable to stand trial at this time, a judge said Friday, NBC Los Angeles reports.
The judge ordered that the Wisconsin girl be committed for treatment, NBC L.A. reports, giving attorneys a year to restore her to competency for a potential trial. She was being charged as an adult. The decision was based on reports from two doctors and attorneys.
The two girls allegedly attacked another 12-year-old female friend and stabbed her 19 times, believing that Slender Man had a mansion in a Wisconsin forest and that they could run away from home and join him. Slender Man was created as an online Photoshop challenge as a tall, skinny man in a suit with no face who allegedly killed children.
You can read more about Slender Man in our explainer looking at how the Internet meme apparently inspired this brutal crime.
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