By: Associated Press//September 1, 2016//
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys for two girls accused of trying to kill a 12-year-old classmate to please the horror character Slender Man will try to have jurors selected outside Waukesha County for the defendants’ trials.
A defense motion filed this week on behalf of Morgan Geyser says a “non-Waukesha County jury should be empaneled” because of heavy media coverage. Geyser has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
WITI-TV reports a letter submitted to the court on behalf of the other girl says the defense is seeking a jury pool from a different county but wants the trial to remain in Waukesha.
Prosecutors say the girls, all 12 at the time, lured their classmate Payton Leutner to some woods in a Waukesha park, stabbed her 19 times and fled. Payton crawled out of the woods to get help.