A 15-year-old suburban Chicago girl has been sentenced to juvenile prison for the fatal stabbing of her younger half-sister in January 2014.
The girl, who is not being identified because of her age, would be in juvenile prison until she is 21. She'll be eligible for parole after five years.
The girl read a statement at a formal sentencing hearing Tuesday saying that she's grateful she'll receive counseling and other help, and that she was tried as a juvenile. She also said she misses her sister.
"I have had a lot of time to think about the wrong I've done and what I want to do with my life," the girl said.
Her goal is to someday go to college and become a nurse. The girl said she's grateful she'll get a second chance.
"I'll get out at 21 and start my life over. Not everyone gets that chance," she said.
The girl pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in January and admitted she killed her 11-year-old sibling. Two of three murder charges against her were dropped as part of the plea agreement. The same sentence was announced by a judge at the time.
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Prosecutors had said the girl stabbed her sister more than 30 times. They said the girl felt unappreciated, and defense attorney Michael Conway said she was helping take care of her younger sibling.
Authorities were called to a home on the 1600 block of Woodhaven Court in Mundelein last year on a report of an unconscious juvenile. Once there, they found the 11-year-old dead in a bedroom. The coroner said the girl had been stabbed 30 times in the neck, chest and arms.
Prosecutors said that after the stabbing, the 14-year-old girl called police and told them there was a Hispanic male intruder stabbing her little sister. She again told the story at the crime scene and during police interviews. When detectives told her later in the afternoon they had strands of hair that would eventually point to the real suspect, the girl admitted she did it, prosecutors said. She submitted oral and written statements indicating she committed the crime because the younger girl didn't appreciate her, officials said.
The victim is not being named because doing so would also identify the girl convicted.
