It was a startling scene in a Waukesha County courtroom Monday afternoon, June 2.
A few days after going to a roller skating rink for a birthday party, the two 12-year-old girls, Morgan E. Geyser and Anissa E. Weier, accused of trying to kill their friend to "prove" themselves to a fictional Internet character, appeared in blue jumpsuits alongside their lawyers.
They had been staying at a Washington County Detention Center since being arrested for allegedly stabbing their fellow classmate over the weekend in a wooded area.
"The state believes the defendant represents a danger to the community," said attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz, who is representing the state and requested a $1 million bail. (Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Thomas Pieper set a $500,000 bail).
But Geyser's attorney, Donna Kuchler, of Kuchler & Cotton S.C. Attorneys At Law, requested Geyser be released and stay at an Aurora Psychiatric Hospital inpatient facility in Wauwatosa and be put on a GPS device.
Attorney Joseph Smith Jr. is representing Weier.
The request was denied by Pieper.
"The court is not inclined to extend the confides of a GPS monitor," Pieper said.
He added the allegations are "incredibly serious and truly very adult-(like) in their potential consequences."
"I recognize the young age, but it's still unbelievable what's outlined in the criminal complaint in the planning and the execution to kill somebody," Pieper said.
Kuchler also requested the media be excluded from future hearings in hopes of it moving to juvenile court. "My client is 12 years old," she said.
Pieper denied the request on the media, saying it's already started in adult court.
Geyser's parents broke into tears in the courtroom upon seeing their 12-year-old daughter in a blue jail jumpsuit.
"The family is very horrified at what has happened," Kuchler said.