'Her life will never be the same': Twelve-year-old girl stabbed brother, 9, to death as parents slept
TULSA, OKLAHOMA: Authorities have taken into custody a twelve-year-old girl after she stabbed her nine-year-old brother to death.Tulsa police revealed how the children's parent, who hasn't been identified, was sleeping upstairs at their River Bank Plaza Apartments residence shortly before midnight on Thursday, January 5, when the daughter woke them to say she had stabbed her brother.
The girl is currently in juvenile custody with the Tulsa Police Child Crisis Unit, which is leading the investigation. A Tulsa Police news release noted that she's being held at the Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
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Tulsa Police Capt Richard Meulenberg said that officers responded to the incident late on Thursday night after a call came in about a 12-year-old assaulting and stabbing a 9-year-old. After arriving on the scene, police launched a probe and learned that the 12-year-old girl and the 9-year-old boy involved were brother and sister. Officers also learned that the children's parent was upstairs asleep when their daughter woke them up and revealed she had stabbed her younger sibling. “Officers, EMSA, fire personnel get there, they start doing life-saving measures, the 9-year-old at the scene,” Meulenberg said. “The 9-year is transported to a local hospital and unfortunately he died from those injuries at about 2:37 this morning.”
The release, which did not identify either child, noted that life-saving efforts to save the victim included taking him into surgery. Tulsa Police Department Chief Franklin tweeted, "All homicides are tragic, but the 2nd homicide of 2023 in Tulsa shows a definitive societal problem. The question is, how does society address a child killing another child?"
All homicides are tragic, but the 2nd homicide of 2023 in Tulsa shows a definitive societal problem. The question is, how does society address a child killing another child? pic.twitter.com/EsXMp6RsFa
— Tulsa Police Department Chief Franklin (@TPD_Franklin) January 6, 2023
Tulsa police have not established a motive for the killing, saying it is upon the courts to uncover intent in this case. “Intent is going to be a key component that the court system will have to work out,” 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." Speaking to KOKI-TV, a neighbor said noted how the parent is "losing two children at one time," adding, "Her life, or the little girl’s life, will never be the same, especially the little girl."
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While the homicide is already the second in Tulsa in 2023, it is also the second sibling killing of the new year. Authorities revealed how Clifton Speed, 39, fatally shot and hit his older brother Byron multiple times during a reported family “scuffle" on January 3. Clifton himself sustained severe face and head injuries that required surgery. He is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the coming days and will be charged with his brother's murder subsequently, the New York Post reported.
