Girl in homicide conspiracy case briefly jailed for tampering with GPS

The 14-year-old girl charged in a deliberate homicide conspiracy case was briefly put back into custody last week for tampering with the GPS unit a judge ordered her to wear, as well as failing to keep the unit’s batteries charged.
The girl appeared with her mother last Thursday in Youth Court on a petition to revoke her release pending the outcome of the case. Stillwater County Attorney Nancy Rohde contended that the girl has repeatedly allowed the GPS unit’s batteries to go dead, has tried to destroy the unit by cutting it, and has also missed several days of school.
“She needs more of a structured environment,” Rohde told Youth Court Judge Blair Jones.
Defense attorney Greg Paskell argued that equipment failure was the issue and that the girl had missed fewer school days than what Rohde had alleged.
Jones interrupted Paskell and cut directly to the issue at hand.
“I’m not looking for excuses. I’m looking for a plan going forward,” said Jones.
In order to determine if the GPS problems are human caused or equipment-based, Jones asked to hear testimony from Alternatives, Inc., which runs the GPS unit.
Stillwater Alternatives Manager Elizabeth Cox testified that there are issues with the girl keeping her GPS unit charged. Cox also testified she had received a “tamper alert” regarding the GPS and that when she looked at the unit, it had been cut.
Paskell put the girl’s mother on the witness stand, who told Jones the girl had been wearing the GPS for six months and that there had been problems with the actual unit itself.
Jones appeared to be unconvinced by the mother’s testimony.
“I have a hard time believing” the GPS is getting the “priority status” it should by the girl and her parents Jones said.
Jones then remanded the girl into the custody of the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office and set bail at $10,000. She was bonded out the same day.
The girl was arrested in May on allegations she conspired to commit deliberate homicide when she “plotted with two others to kill another person…plotted on the place, the time, and the methods to use in the plan to torture and kill (the intended victim),” according to a petition for delinquency filed by Rohde.
Authorities contend the girl allegedly planned to enlist the help of two others and lure the victim to her house. Once there, she planned to tie the victim to a chair in the basement and “kill him with a crow bar,” according to court documents.
The alleged plot was discovered by an adult who overheard a conversation about the planned crime. All the parties involved attend the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. The girl has since been removed and placed at a different school.