"I deeply regret everything:" 25 years commitment for Anissa Weier in Slenderman stabbing

WAUKESHA — One of the two Wisconsin girls accused of stabbing a classmate to gain the favor of a horror character named Slenderman on Thursday, December 21st learned how long she'll spend in a mental health facility.

The state on Thursday recommended 25 years commitment. The defense argued she not be committed beyond her 25th birthday -- for a total of 10 years, 12 years less than the state recommended, arguing 25 years is twice as long as she's been alive. She was expected to be committed for at least 3 years after she was previously found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

Judge Michael Bohren on Thursday ruled Anissa Weier will spend 25 years in institutional care -- committed to the Department of Health Services, until she is 37. She was ordered transported to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.

As part of the plea agreement, Weier cannot seek conditional release until July 1st, 2020.

"I want everyone involved in this to know that I do hold myself accountable for this and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure that I don't make any sort of delusion or whatever again. I want everyone to know I deeply regret everything that happened that day. I know that nothing I say is going to make this right and nothing I say is going to fix what I broke. I am never going to let this happen again. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure that this doesn't happen. I know you've heard that before and you're probably going to hear it again, but it's the truth, and I'm sorry," Weier said during her sentencing hearing.

The family of the victim, Payton Leutner submitted a letter to the judge ahead of sentencing.

Additionally, the court viewed a video presentation featuring Weier's family members.

"There were times during our conversations she would look almost blank. I think she was thinking 'I wonder what my grandparents are thinking now,'" Weier's grandmother said in the video.

"She's taken on this role of pod mommy, as some people call her. She knows how things function there. She helps other kids with the day-to-day routine," Weier's father said of his daughter's time at the secure detention facility.

Payton Leutner survived 19 stab wounds in a Waukesha park in 2014. Leutner, Weier and the other girl charged in the stabbing, Morgan Geyser, were 12 years old at the time.

Geyser was also found not guilty by reason of mental disease and will be sentenced in February.

In a victim impact letter to the judge, Leutner's mother Stacie wrote that Payton slept with scissors under her pillow after the attack. Below is the full letter submitted to the court: