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Worrying new details have emerged about the 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a 37-year-old woman to death, including that she had run away from nursing homes “hundreds of times” and appeared “significantly impaired by substances” at the time. of the alleged attack.
The young woman, who cannot be identified due to her age, is accused of killing the older woman in the early hours of November 16 at the former Royal Hotel pub converted into a hostel and apartments in Footscray, Melbourne.
She was arrested at the scene and taken to the hospital for medical evaluation under police guard. That same day she was charged with murder.
During court proceedings this week it was revealed that caregivers of the girl, who has been in the care of the state since she was a baby, reported increasing violent behavior in the 20 months before her arrest.
The Supreme Court heard the girl had run away 275 times in the past three years and had been missing for two weeks when she was arrested at the Barkly St apartments.
A 12-year-old girl allegedly stabbed a 37-year-old woman to death in the former Royal Hotel pub converted into a hostel and apartments in Footscray on November 16 (pictured, forensics at the scene)
The Supreme Court heard the girl has been in state care since she was a baby and had run away 275 times in the last three years (pictured, police at the scene)
The girl ran away on average twice a week for “one or two” nights, Herald of the sun reports.
The court also heard that the girl’s carers had made at least 10 reports of violent behavior in the 20 months before her arrest.
The alleged incidents included robbing a shop with a knife to steal alcohol, carrying a knife in public, stealing his carer’s car, assaulting three people on separate occasions and smashing a resident’s window with a rock.
The 12-year-old girl was supposed to undergo fingerprint and DNA analysis to compare her samples with those found at the crime scene, but her criminal case was delayed by a debate over whether the media should be allowed to report about the trial.
The court on Friday dismissed an attempted suppression by Victoria’s Department of Families, Equity and Housing after citing “parental concern” for the girl’s well-being if details of her case came to light in the news.
Details revealed in court proceedings over the past five weeks were kept secret until Judge James Elliott determined Friday that the gag order was not necessary, as existing laws on children’s anonymity already gave it a ” significant degree of protection.”
Now that the offer has been dismissed, the girl’s forensic hearing can continue and new details of the crime scene will be revealed.
The girl’s carers made 10 reports of escalating violence, including an alleged incident where she robbed a shop with a knife to steal alcohol (pictured, forensic officer at the scene)
Details of the crime scene have been kept secret while the court handled a gag order for the case from Victoria’s Department of Families, Equity and Housing (pictured, investigators at the scene).
No information has yet been provided about the circumstances of the murder.
The court also heard the girl suffered a history of abuse, was sexually exploited by adults and drank alcohol as her “substance abuse option”.
While in hospital after her arrest for the alleged stabbing, the 12-year-old girl appeared to be “significantly” impaired by substances and told a psychiatrist: “I’m going to kill you motherfuckers.”
The alleged violent behavior continued once she was moved to a state-run secure residential facility while on bail.
The Department of Families, Equity and Housing initially objected to the girl being held in a detention center due to her vulnerable status.
Instead, he supported bailing the girl to a therapeutic support service, as long as she was held in a secure area away from other children and prevented from leaving the facility.
However, this week the department requested that the girl’s bond be revoked after learning that the facility could no longer address her behavior.
The filing of the gag order was denied on Friday, allowing the girl’s forensic hearing to take place (pictured, police at the scene)
The girl is being held in a secure care facility while out on bail, but has reportedly threatened staff several times (pictured, investigators at the scene in Footscray).
“The secretary can no longer guarantee the safety of the young woman or the departmental staff caring for her and the community while the young woman is in secure care,” her attorney said, according to the statement. Age reports.
The court heard staff were forced to use physical restraints to control the girl, even since her arrest.
“He has assaulted our staff in the past, either physically or verbally,” one government employee told the court.
On December 17, a month after she was charged, she told staff: “I’m going to burn the building down and I’m going to hurt people.”
The next day she threatened the other children and told the workers: “If I wasn’t safe, you would be in a hospital.”
Victoria Police supported revoking the girl’s bail, saying she did not have the resources to be “on standby” if she suddenly needed to be moved to a more secure facility.
Judge James Elliott rejected the application and the girl remains free on bail at the care home.
The court heard the girl told therapy center staff: “I’m going to burn down the building and I’m going to hurt people” while on bail (pictured, police at the scene)
The case will return to court in January following an unsuccessful request to move the girl to a more secure facility (pictured, police at the scene)
“I’m not proposing to revoke bail,” he said.
‘It is a common fact that (the girl) suffers from a mental disability and has the intellectual capacity of someone much younger than her 12 years.
“It has been estimated that their maturity and level of understanding is equivalent to that of a six-year-old child.”
Instead, Elliott amended his bail condition to require police to respond to any calls involving the boy as a matter of urgency.
The case will return to court in January.