Two teens in Utah were charged with the attempted murder of a 14-year-old girl who police said was shot in the back of the head, robbed and then left for dead last week.
The 16-year-old boys are charged with one count each of first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder and aggravated robbery and four counts each of second-degree felony obstructing justice.
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The two teen boys allegedly lured their victim to a dry canal bed in Smithfield, Utah, under the assumption that she would be buying a knife.
The county attorney said he plans to try both teens as adults, but such a motion has not yet been approved by a judge. A court official says information about the suspects’ attorneys and pleas was not available because they’re minors. The two teens remain in custody.
Authorities say the victim, a ninth-grade girl, was found semi-conscious in the canal, about 90 miles north of Salt Lake City Friday. She had been reported missing the previous evening after she didn’t arrive home from school, and she was hospitalized soon after being found.
A family spokesman told PEOPLE the victim remains in critical condition in a medically-induced coma.
In a statement to PEOPLE, the victims family thanked law enforcement and the hospital staff as well as the community for “all the support, prayers, assistance.. in our time of need.”
“We know that our Father in Heaven is watching over her and all of us that have been touched by her,” the family’s statement continued. “We know the he hears and answers prayers and we can see his hand at work as [she] continues to make progress.”
Police allege the initial plan was to stab the victim to death and then rob her — but one of the suspects decided instead to use a .22-caliber revolver he had brought with him.
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That teen brought the gun “as a secondary weapon to be used against [the victim] if the original plan failed,” the documents allege. He eventually confessed, authorities claim.
When interviewed by police, that same teen allegedly said that after he shot the victim at close range, he stole her cellphone and iPod from her pocket. He allegedly claimed the other teen stole $55 from the victim’s purse and forcibly removed her backpack from her body.
After they robbed her, the duo allegedly tossed the victim’s backpack in a Dumpster in a city park and destroyed her electronics, according to the charging documents.
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[H/T PEOPLE]
