A 12-year-old Elkhart girl accused of stabbing her stepmother to death may be placed in Oaklawn’s mental health facilities rather than the Elkhart County Juvenile Detention Center.
Holly Curtis, public defense attorney for the girl, requested that Magistrate Deborah Domine consider the move because the girl has shown signs of mental illness and her mental health has declined while at the detention center, according to 95.3 MNC’s news partners The Elkhart Truth.
Domine said that the girl needs to be in a secure facility but didn’t deny the request. She ordered the Elkhart County Probation Department to investigate an alternative placement for the girl. A report is expected in the next 30 days.
- RELATED: 12-year-old girl arrested in connection to deadly Elkhart stabbing, July 24, 2015
The girl has been at the detention center since she was arrested July 24 in connection to the stabbing death of her stepmother, 50-year-old Maria Torres.
Read more about the hearing and the case in the full story from The Elkhart Truth.
