A 15-year-old girl and her 14-year-old best friend plotted to kill a classmate at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, according to an arrest report.
The suspects were arrested Friday by Altamonte Springs police after officers received information about a possible threat to a student. An investigation found the two may have been involved, the department said that day in a news release, and a knife and a note were found in one of the girls’ bags.
Among the charges the girls are facing are counts of premeditated attempted murder, the Friday release said.
While the girls weren’t identified in the release, they were named in the otherwise heavily redacted arrest report. The Sentinel is not publishing the girls’ names because it appears their case is currently in juvenile court.
Authorities received an anonymous tip Thursday night stating a student at Lake Brantley going by the name of “Jimmy” was planning to kill another student the following day. The report says an investigation later identified “Jimmy” as the 15-year-old female student.
The girl was apparently already known to law enforcement, as the report says a previous investigation helped identify her. A spokesperson for Altamonte Springs police declined to provide details about the prior investigation.
Deputies from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office visited the girl’s home, where she denied knowing anything about the tip. She also denied speaking to anyone online the previous night, saying she couldn’t contact anyone online because law enforcement “took her phone.”
When asked if she knew a specific person, whose name is redacted, she said no.
The school’s assistant principal told a security guard to bring the girl to her office around 7:30 a.m. She noticed the girl didn’t have her backpack with her, so she requested the backpack also be brought to her office. She began asking the girl questions, including if she thought about hurting herself or someone else.
The rest of the conversation is redacted. The next unredacted portion of the report says the assistant principal “then gave all of the evidence to law enforcement.” The assistant principal then requested another person, whose name is redacted, to come to her office, asking her what she knew and who she told.
The 15-year-old suspect was later interviewed by detectives, who asked her what had happened since they spoke to her at her home the previous day. The conversation is redacted. The report says the girl’s statements and attitude weren’t consistent with those of an innocent person explaining the facts.
After this conversation, the 14-year-old suspect, who is described as the other’s best friend, was called to the office. She tells police the other suspect had contacted her, but the rest of the conversation is redacted.
Police recovered a camera and what appeared to be used work gloves from the 15-year-old suspect’s backpack.
The report doesn’t mention the knife or note referred to in Altamonte Springs police’s Friday news release. A department spokesperson declined to provide more details on the knife and note.