The 12-year-old Texas girl suspected of shooting herself and her father as part of a murder pact with another girl has died due to her injuries.
The girl and her father were both taken to the hospital by air ambulance, and the father has since been released. The Parker County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) posted on Facebook that the shooting was part of an alleged murder plot between two preteen girls who planned to run away to Georgia together after killing their families and pets.
“Due to the injuries, the age of the juveniles and the sensitive case matter, information released regarding this case will be limited,” Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier said in a statement earlier this week.
On Wednesday, CBS News reported that the girl had died from her injuries, and an autopsy performed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office determined her manner of death was suicide by a gunshot wound to the head.
The PCSO said the incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a home in northwest Parker County. Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene of the shooting and found a 12-year-old girl lying in the street with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The girl’s 38-year-old father was found inside the home with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
Police believe the girl shot her father and then fled the scene before shooting herself sometime later. A handgun was found under the girl.
Authorities also discovered during their investigation that the girl had been talking to another young girl from Lufkin, Texas, for several weeks about the alleged murder plot. The two had apparently made a pact to murder their families and pets, but the other girl did not follow through with the plan, the PCSO said. The young shooter was then supposed to drive to Lufkin and pick up the other girl before the two would flee together to Georgia.
Lufkin police are investigating the incident on their end, while the PCSO charged the girl in Lufkin with criminal conspiracy for her role in the alleged murder plot.
The PCSO doesn’t release the name of juvenile suspects and will not release the names of the adults involved to further protect the children’s identities.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.