A 12-year-old girl is in custody after she allegedly stabbed her nine-year-old brother to death in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Thursday night.
Police officers were called to the 1000 block of 64th Pl. S. at around 11:40 p.m. after receiving a report of a stabbing, according to the Tulsa Police Department.
When they arrived, paramedics and firefighters were on the scene providing CPR to the nine-year-old boy. The victim was rushed to the hospital to be taken in for surgery but died from his injuries after 2:30 a.m.
Police noted the 12-year-old girl went upstairs, woke her parents up, and told them that she had stabbed her brother.
The girl was arrested and is currently being held at the Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
The investigation is still preliminary as police are still figuring out the motive of the crime.
“Intent is going to be a key component that the court system will have to work out,” Captain Richard Meulenberg told Fox 23. “Obviously we did some interviews, but interviews with a 12-year-old are very preliminary.”
“This, unfortunately, has no easy end or easy path, this is going to be a long convoluted process that’s going to be extremely taxing on everyone involved in this,” he added.
Meulenberg added that the weapon used in the attack was a knife.
One neighbor was heartbroken over the tragedy and offered her sympathies to the victim’s mother.
“Just be strong, I know it’s easy for someone that it hasn’t happened to, to say that, but just be strong, keep your faith, and just don’t give up on your daughter, don’t give up on her at all,” the neighbor told Fox 23.
Tulsa police noted that the Juvenile Justice System would handle the case. It was the city’s second homicide in 2023.
“All homicides are tragic, but the 2nd homicide of 2023 in Tulsa shows a definitive societal problem,” Tulsa’s Chief of Police Wendell Franklin stated on Friday. “The question is, how does society address a child killing another child?”
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.