Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll said under Ohio law, the 13-year-old cannot be charged as an adult.
The 15-year-old could be bound over into adult court if the judge makes a decision to do so, and the prosecution can also ask for that to happen — but Driscoll said his office won’t make a decision until the investigation is finished and he can look over the evidence.
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Each girl faces three charges — one count of murder and two counts of felonious assault.
The 13-year-old is the daughter of the two of the victims, and deputies say she helped to plan the attack that took place early Thursday morning.
Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the house in response to a reported stabbing.
They found three victims with stab wounds — a father, identified as 56-year-old Paul Greear, Greear’s 17-year-old son and a mother who was unresponsive.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office identified the mother who died as 36-year-old Lee Moore.
Deputies say the 13-year-old and 15-year-old are friends. The 13-year-old’s parents told her she wasn’t allowed to see the other teen anymore — but the two were still meeting up secretly at a local library.
Together, deputies say the two planned the attack on the 13-year-old’s family.
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Deputies, in interviews, determined the 13-year-old suspect initiated conversation with the 15-year-old suspect and both conspired to have the older girl enter the house during the night with the younger girl’s help and assault and kill the man, woman and 17-year-old.
Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, an incident report says the 15-year-broke into the house and started attacking the family with a knife.
The father and son held down the 15-year-old suspect until deputies arrived on scene.
Both girls’ parents were at their arraignment hearings on Friday afternoon in Clark County Juvenile Court.
Greear, still recovering from his injuries from the attack, told his daughter that he loved her as he listened to the charges against her.
Denials were entered for both girls on all charges. They will stay in juvenile detention until at least their next court date, which was been scheduled for May 29.
The Springfield News-Sun is dedicated to covering cases through all steps of the criminal justice process from the crime scene to the courtroom.
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