EASTPOINTE, Mich.—A 14-year-old Detroit-area girl and her 17-year-old boyfriend have been charged as adults in a plot to kill the girl’s mother.
The 17-year-old is accused of of entering the family’s Eastpointe home through an opened door in July and trying to strangle the mother while she slept, the Macomb County prosecutor’s office said Thursday in a news release.
The boy ran after being confronted by other family members in the home.
Eastpointe police determined that the two teens planned the attack, the prosecutor’s office said.
“The minor daughter had met another minor on a social media app,” Eastpointe Police Chief Corey Haines told WJBK-TV. “They decided together that they were going to kill mom.”
Police have said the girl’s mother had taken her phone away following issues the girl was having at home. The mother was not aware of the boyfriend.
The girl was arraigned Aug. 14 on solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder. Her bond was set at $1 million. The 17-year-old was arraigned Aug. 12 on conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder and assault with intent to murder. His bond was set at $2.5 million.
Both were being held at the county’s Juvenile Justice Center. They face probable cause hearings Tuesday in Eastpointe District Court.
Their names were not released.
“This level of criminal activity is unacceptable, and we intend to treat it with the severity it deserves,” Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said in a news release. “That’s why we are seeking to charge these juveniles as adults—because when you commit adult crimes, you face adult consequences.”