Girl, 14, stabs 10-year-old niece to death, carves words on her body with knife before running away from home
A 14-year-old girl reportedly slit her cousin's throat and carved words on her body before fleeing the scene on Wednesday, July 8. The 14-year-old was arrested from the neighborhood shortly after her mother returned to the remote family farmhouse at Gunnedah in north-west NSW around 7 am to find her niece bleeding. Reports state that by the time authorities arrived, the 10-year-old had already succumbed to multiple knife wounds in her neck and face.
The suspect's mother had reportedly left the farmhouse around 6.30 am with another child to complete some farm duties and returned only after 30 minutes, according to The Daily Telegraph. When she reached the farmhouse, she found her niece in a pool of blood and her daughter missing from the scene. After a frantic search for the teenager, she was eventually found at a neighboring property at 8.30 am. The girl allegedly admitted to the killing and told authorities that she had cut her cousin's throat and stabbed her multiple times with a knife. The teen's mother told police that she had left both the girls asleep in the house but later found the 10-year-old, who has not yet been identified, bleeding profusely when she returned. Reports state that the 10-year-old had traveled nearly 350km from Orange to stay with her cousin during the school holidays. It is believed that the 14-year-old also carved words on her skin with a knife, more details of the incident are yet to be released.
The teen was arrested and taken to Gunnedah Police Station where medical experts attended to her and she spoke with local detectives. Reports state that no charges have yet been slapped against her. Emergency services reportedly continue to remain at the farmhouse as forensic police are scouring the crime scene for evidence. Gunnedah Mayor Councillor Jamie Chaffey also released a statement on the incident and said that the community's heartfelt prayers were with the family, according to Daily Mail Australia. "They're dealing with this devastation of losing a young member of the family," he added. "The community has been through so much through three years of drought and Covid-19 but we are resilient and supportive of each other to get through the tough times." The Mayor Councillor also added that the community will be left devastated by the "tragic incident."
"We will be there to support each other and we will support the family. Members of our community that will need support, we encourage them to reach out to Lifeline or Headspace," he added. "We appreciate the thoughts of the people reaching out from the broad areas across NSW that are offering their thoughts and prayers." The 14-year-old's family is believed to be well-respected in the Gunnedah community and they have lived at the property for more than a decade, according to reports. The alleged killing has been described by senior police officers as one of the worst murders in the recent history of the region involving children.