Logo
  • Home
  • Ask
  • Teen Help Network
  • About
    • About Judge Tom
    • Books
    • FAQs
    • Press Room
  • Your Rights
    • Crime and Punishment
    • Student Rights at School
    • You and Your Body
    • You and the Internet
    • Juvenile Justice System
    • LGBT Youth Rights
    • More Categories
  • Blog
  • Get Help
    • Videos
    • A Teenager’s Guide to Juvenile Court
    • Books
    • Research & Resources
  • Newsletter Signup

 

Q&A

Know your rights! Youth justice and juvenile law answers.

Askthejudge.info features regular updates from the news, important decisions from the nation′s courts, and online discussions with Judge Tom. Find out everything you need to know about youth rights, juvenile law and juvenile justice. AsktheJudge – Empowering youth one question at a time.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this site is made available to the general public and is not intended to serve as legal advice.You should consult a trained legal professional in your area for questions you may have about the laws affecting juveniles or any legal interpretations.

Copyright, 2014
Logo
January 14, 2013
Judge Tom
Blog
0

16-year-old girl threatens to blow up school

PreviousNext
Red Mountain High School

A few days before the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December, 2012, a student at Red Mountain High School in Arizona posted a video about killing herself, shooting her classmates and blowing up the school. Due to the fact that she is 16-years-old and therefore a minor, her name has not been released. She posted on a YouTube channel how “super easy” it would be to blow up the high school.

The owner of the channel is in Toronto, Canada. He notified the Toronto police about the post who, in turn, notified the authorities in Arizona. The post was traced to her home in Mesa, Arizona. The girl was arrested and taken to juvenile court. She is charged with threatening and intimidating. A search of her home turned up three guns that belonged to her father. They had trigger-locks and were kept in a safe. Her father expressed concerns about some of her statements. Her parents informed the police that she had a history of mental problems.

In the post she said “I now literally have a plan of seriously hurting . . .killing . . .murdering people in my high school.” Prosecutors may request that she be tried as an adult. If she remains in the juvenile system, she will be released when she turns 18. In Arizona, that’s when juvenile court jurisdiction ends. So the chances of her being transferred on these charges to the adult criminal system are good. That decision will be made by the assigned juvenile court judge. If she is tried and convicted in the adult system, she may be facing years of incarceration and hopefully mental health treatment.

juvenile laws
Share this
Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

Find great resources in our

Teen Help Network


Leave A Comment Cancel reply