A 14-year-old Florida girl was arrested and charged with arson and attempted murder for setting her family’s Port Richey house on fire while her mother and 9-year-old brother slept, according to Fox News. She was allegedly influenced by the fictional horror figure, Slender Man.
Police in Pasco County stated that Lily Marie Hartwell doused a towel and bed sheet with bleach and rum, then set them ablaze in the garage. Her mother and brother were awakened by a smoke detector alarm, then escaped from the home, which was already burning. Firemen arrived at roughly 1:45 a.m.; The Suncoast News reported that Hartwell was found several hours later; the Tampa Bay Times reported that Hartwell texted her mother, “Mom Im so sorry I don’t know why I did it.” She sent another text wanting to know if anyone was hurt.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco revealed that Hartwell had been reading Soul Eater, an online book by Atsushi Ohkubo. He said, “It’s very disturbing. It’s about killing people.” He added that another influence on Hartwell had been Slender Man and that Hartwell had noted in her journal the incident in which two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls, Morgan E. Geyser and Anissa E. Weier, inspired by Slender Man, had stabbed a friend 19 times in May. Hartwell had visited creepypasta.com, where people can blog about Slender Man.
Photo Credit: Flickr/mdl70
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