Holly MatkinLogansport, IN – A 12-year-old girl who thought she was going to a sleepover with friends was brutally beaten and tortured by two other pre-teens over the weekend, according to police.
“Over the weekend, she was tortured, beaten, confined,” the victim’s aunt, Renita Contreras, told WXIN. “Two juvenile females sat on top of her for two hours so she could not breathe, they burned her with cigarette lighters. It goes on and on.”
The incident began the evening of Feb. 25, when two girls the 12-year-old girl thought were her friends invited her to a sleepover, the victim’s family said.
By the following morning, she’d been burned, nearly suffocated, half of her head had been shaved, and she had cuts to her face from a sharp object, they told WXIN.
The victim’s family notified the Logansport Police Department (LPD) about the incident at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 26.
“They didn’t bully her. They tortured her,” said the victim’s mother, Jaimie Tribbett. “Mentally, physically tortured my daughter and it’s not right.”
The victim’s family said the girl’s attackers videoed the brutal assault and shared the footage with others.
Contreras, who watched the video, said her niece looked like she was dead.
“It wasn’t an image our family needed to see or was ever ready to see,” she told WXIN. “She’s a little girl. What these juvenile females did to her is unimaginable.”
The victim is still recovering from her physical injuries, and Tribbett said she’s concerned about how the attack has impacted her psychologically.
“It hurts bad because now she has to for the rest of her life look over her shoulder or wonder if she can trust this person or that person. It’s absolutely horrible,” Tribbett told WXIN. “I hope that my daughter can get justice.”
Two preteen girls have been arrested in connection with the assault.
LPD Sergeant Dan Frye described the attack as “severe,” and said the videos were “heart wrenching,” WXIN reported.
“Those are not enjoyable calls for anyone in law enforcement, and this one in particular goes to the extreme with the alleged suspects being juveniles as well,” Sgt. Frye said. “More times than not, we deal with adults victimizing juveniles and this one was a little bit different.”
One of the juvenile suspects was ordered to be detained during her initial appearance Tuesday morning, WXIN reported.
That suspect has been charged with the juvenile equivalents of felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, felony intimidation with a deadly weapon, and felony criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury.
Sgt. Frye said the case is still under investigation and that additional charges could be forthcoming.
“My heart goes out for the young lady,” he told WXIN. “Our investigation is ongoing.”
