This last Thursday, October 5th, the second teenager involved in the stabbing of a classmate in 2014 pleaded guilty to attempted first degree murder, but was not found criminally responsible because of a plea agreement. Morgan Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured a classmate to a park, where they stabbed her 19 times. They were (Geyser, Weier, and the victim) 12 years old at the time of the crime. They did this in order to please a fake internet character named 'Slenderman'. The classmate survived, only after crawling to safety before being seen. Both teenagers who committed the crime were charged as adults. The plea agreement involved Geyser entering the plea, and then for the judge (Michael Bohren) to find her not guilty due to a mental disease; the judge accepted the plea. With this deal, Morgan Geyser will be sent to a mental institution and will avoid jail time. Although the Prosecution has asked the county judge to sentence her to 40 years in this institution, the final analysis involving the mental state of Morgan Geyser will ultimately determine her sentencing. After everything, the defendant's lawyer states that Geyser "would not be considered to have a criminal record.” The other teen involved, Anissa Weier, pleaded guilty to a smaller charge due to mental illness, and was, in fact, found mentally ill at the time of the attack. She will spend three years in a mental institution before being able to petition for release.
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Question 1: Do you think that just because Morgan Geyser had a mental illness at the time of the stabbing that she should be able to avoid jail time?
Question 2: Do you think that she should have a criminal record?
Question 3: Have you ever heard of 'Slenderman' and do you think that the website/creators of this fictional character are at fault?
*Personal opinion to question #1
I think that this whole situation is a mess. On one hand, she was only twelve years old at the time of the crime and was struggling with a mental illness. On the other hand, she still tried to kill someone. Personally, I think that she should definitely go to a mental institution to be analyzed and helped. There is obviously something that is not right about her. I think that how long she should be there should be based off of the information gathered from her evaluation. I think that because she was/is so young, she should be able to avoid some jail time if she is found mentally unstable, but I still think she should be punished in some way.
*Personal opinion to question #2
I think that she should have a criminal record because she ultimately committed the act of trying to kill someone.
*Personal opinion to question #3
I hadn't heard of Slenderman until I read this article. I think that the creator/s of this "creature" should not be encouraging people to kill others in order to satisfy a fake character. I think the person who created this probably has some mental problems as well and shouldn't have created the creepy character to begin with. I don't know what the creator'/s intentions were, but it looks like nothing good has come from it.
Replies
Great job Emma!
I think that she should go to a mental hospital. There is something very wrong with her and she needs to be helped. I think that she should have a criminal record, because she stabbed someone and that is something that she needs to realized she did wrong. I have heard of Slenderman before, and I dont think that the creators are at fault. Because they only wrote Slendermans character to get a good scare out of people and they wanted to writer something that people who liked creepy things.
I think that she shouldn't get out of anything. She did it and that's it. If she would avoid jail based on a mental illness then everyone would be able to. Pretty much everyone has a mental illness even if they don't know it. I think that she should because she did stab someone. I have heard of slender man, I mean who hasn't, and I also don't think that the creator should be at fault. They created it but they didn't cause it to blow up the way that it did and be so popular. They also didn't make all the messed up stories that cause people to do this kind of thing.
I think that just because Morgan Geyser had a mental illness at the time, she should still have some jail time. Her parents or guardians should have had a better watch of her as well. I think it should go on her criminal record because that is not something that should just go away. She tried to kill someone and that is a criminal record. I have heard about Slenderman and I think that they could be a little responsible for this. They shouldn't be encouraging to kill people because it could give wrong ideas.
I think that she should go to a mental institution and then go to jail, she needs to get better before serving her time. I think both of them should have a criminal record, what they did was wrong and you should never do but for some reason they can walk around like anyone else. I havent heard of this slender-man but since the name of the 'old' slender-man is well known for killing a lot of people that I think I have an idea on what this is about.
I agree with you. Do you think that she should serve less time because she was so young at the time of the crime?
I think that she should avoid jail time, because I'm sure psychiatric hospitals are just as bad. I guess it depends on the type of mental illness she had; Schizophrenia or ASPD. If she had Schizophrenia, that she didn't have the capability to differentiate between reality and imaginary, then a psychiatric hospital is key. If she had Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD), then she should go to jail. If she had this, then she wouldn't have the ability to have emotions and link them to a person (if their child dies, they wouldn't care, in severe cases). She would've had the ability to know what is reality and what is imaginary. I think altogether, she should have a criminal record. I have heard of the Slenderman, and I think the creators shouldn't take it down nor it's their fault. It is a game that many people had played.
I think that is a good point. Certain illnesses limit judgement and distort reality....This is one of the reasons why I thought she should avoid jail time as well. The results of her analysis will ultimately determine my opinion.
Even though she is young and had a mental illness, I still think that Morgan Geyser should go to a mental institute and maybe spend some time in jail. I think as a 12 year old You should still know that killing someone is not okay, even if she did have a mental illness. If she doesn't go to jail, she should still be punished somehow. I think that she should have a criminal record because she did kill someone whether she knew what she was doing or not. I have heard of Slenderman, but I haven't really heard any stories about him. The people that are on the website creating these stories shouldn't be doing this because incidents like this can happen, but I also don't think that the girls should have been involved with that website in the first place.
I also believe that the girls shouldn't have been on the website. Do you think part of it is the parent's fault for not being more aware of the behavior of their children?
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