1 of 2 girls convicted in Slenderman stabbing loses appeal

MADISON - One of two Wisconsin girls who repeatedly stabbed a classmate because she believed a fictional horror character named Slenderman would attack her family if she didn’t kill the girl lost an appeal Wednesday.

Morgan Geyser was 12 at the time of the 2014 attack. Geyser’s attorney Matthew Pinix had argued that she should have been charged with second-degree intentional homicide, which would have placed the case in juvenile court. Instead, she was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which put the case in adult court.

But Wisconsin's 2nd District Court of Appeals found that the Waukesha County Circuit Court correctly kept the case in adult court.

Pinix said he planned to appeal Wednesday's ruling to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He declined further comment until he had finished reading the ruling.

Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the 2014 attack on Payton Leutner, who was stabbed 19 times and left for dead. Investigators said Geyser and co-defendant Anissa Weier lured her from a sleepover to a nearby park in Waukesha. All three girls were 12.

The appeals court did not rule on whether statements Geyser made to police should have been allowed at trial. The appeals court said it didn't matter because other evidence against her was overwhelming.

Geyser was ordered to spend 40 years in a mental health institution. Weier was committed to a mental health facility for 25 years.