TULSA, Okla. – A 12-year-old girl is in custody after fatally stabbing her 9-year-old brother.
“All homicides are tragic, but the 2nd homicide of 2023 in Tulsa shows a definitive societal problem,” Tulsa Police Department Chief Wendell Franklin tweeted.
Police responded to a call for a stabbing just before midnight on Thursday, Jan. 5, in the 1000 block of 64th Place in Tulsa where they found paramedics and firefighters already at the scene performing CPR on a 9-year-old boy.
The children’s parents were sleeping upstairs when the girl woke them up and said she had stabbed her brother, police said.
The victim was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery but succumbed to his injuries shortly after 2:30 a.m., according to a release from TPD.
“The question is, how does society address a child killing another child,” Franklin said on social media.
A neighbor spoke with reporters for KJRH. Her interview can be seen in the media player at the top of this article.
Police said the girl was taken into custody and is being held at the Family Center for Juvenile Justice.
“This, unfortunately, has no easy end or easy path, this is going to be a long convoluted process that’s going to be extremely taxing on everyone involved in this,” Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg told FOX23.
Oklahoma law states that the girl can’t be prosecuted as an adult due to her age.
“Intent is going to be a key component that the court system will have to work out,” Meulenberg said when asked about a potential motive. “Obviously we did some interviews, but interviews with a 12-year-old are very preliminary.”