A pair of 14-year-old Florida middle school girls are facing felony charges for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder after being arrested this week in what authorities described as a plot to kidnap and kill 9 people.
Court records obtained by ABC News Tampa affiliate WFTS and reviewed by ABC News indicate that a teacher told police she observed the girls acting “hysterical” while searching for a folder at school, and heard one say that “I’m just going to tell them it’s a prank if they call me or if they find it.”
ABC News is withholding the identity of the girls due to their age.
The teacher located the folder, which allegedly contained eight handwritten notes detailing the kidnapping and murder plot, and notified authorities, according to the arrest reports. The letters outlined plans to obtain guns and discussed the transportation and disposal of bodies.
Three of the allegedly targeted victims were to be picked up in a vehicle and transported to a location where they would be killed, according to the reports.
"The plans further speak about the transportation of the victims' bodies to other locations and their disposal, specifically burning and burying their bodies," one arrest report reads. "The plans were written in great detail as to how they would lure the victims, kill the victims, and dispose of the victims' bodies."
One contained plans about what the two youngsters would wear during the kidnappings and murders.
"NO NAILS," the note stated, according to the report. "NO Hair Showing from the moment we put on these clothes..."
The folder was labeled “Private info,” “Do not open” and “Project 11/9."
Each of the nine victims were contacted, according to the arrest reports, and "wished to pursue charges in this case," the report reads. Six of the targeted individuals are listed in the arrest reports as being 14-year-olds, while two are listed as 17-year-olds and one is listed as a 15-year-old. The identities of the individuals are redacted from publicly-available records.
The teenagers were taken into custody earlier this week and each face nine counts of criminal attempt to conspire capital felony (premeditated homicide), and three counts of criminal attempt to conspire third-degree felony (kidnapping), WFTS reported.
Officials said they are treating the plot seriously.
"It doesn’t matter if they thought it was a joke,” Highlands County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) spokesman Scott Dressel told WFTS. “It's not a joke. There's no joking about something like this. You don’t make a joke about killing people. It's not a joke.”
Highlands County Schools Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge said in a statement to WFTS that the school’s safety protocols were effective.
“We would like to remind students (and everyone) that we are all held accountable for the information that we communicate,” he said in the statement.
“The [district] takes threats very seriously and we work closely with the HCSO to investigate them. We have stressed the concept that if staff or students hear or see something that concerns them, to please share that information with someone that can do something about it. In this situation, we witnessed this concept in action. This enables us to be proactive and respond to situations prior to an incident taking place."
It was not immediately clear whether either of the girls or their families had retained defense attorneys. Attempts by ABC News to make contact with the families were not initially successful.
Court records obtained by ABC News Tampa affiliate WFTS and reviewed by ABC News indicate that a teacher told police she observed the girls acting “hysterical” while searching for a folder at school, and heard one say that “I’m just going to tell them it’s a prank if they call me or if they find it.”
ABC News is withholding the identity of the girls due to their age.
Three of the allegedly targeted victims were to be picked up in a vehicle and transported to a location where they would be killed, according to the reports.
"The plans further speak about the transportation of the victims' bodies to other locations and their disposal, specifically burning and burying their bodies," one arrest report reads. "The plans were written in great detail as to how they would lure the victims, kill the victims, and dispose of the victims' bodies."
One contained plans about what the two youngsters would wear during the kidnappings and murders.
"NO NAILS," the note stated, according to the report. "NO Hair Showing from the moment we put on these clothes..."
The folder was labeled “Private info,” “Do not open” and “Project 11/9."
Each of the nine victims were contacted, according to the arrest reports, and "wished to pursue charges in this case," the report reads. Six of the targeted individuals are listed in the arrest reports as being 14-year-olds, while two are listed as 17-year-olds and one is listed as a 15-year-old. The identities of the individuals are redacted from publicly-available records.
The teenagers were taken into custody earlier this week and each face nine counts of criminal attempt to conspire capital felony (premeditated homicide), and three counts of criminal attempt to conspire third-degree felony (kidnapping), WFTS reported.
Officials said they are treating the plot seriously.
"It doesn’t matter if they thought it was a joke,” Highlands County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) spokesman Scott Dressel told WFTS. “It's not a joke. There's no joking about something like this. You don’t make a joke about killing people. It's not a joke.”
Highlands County Schools Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge said in a statement to WFTS that the school’s safety protocols were effective.
“We would like to remind students (and everyone) that we are all held accountable for the information that we communicate,” he said in the statement.
“The [district] takes threats very seriously and we work closely with the HCSO to investigate them. We have stressed the concept that if staff or students hear or see something that concerns them, to please share that information with someone that can do something about it. In this situation, we witnessed this concept in action. This enables us to be proactive and respond to situations prior to an incident taking place."
It was not immediately clear whether either of the girls or their families had retained defense attorneys. Attempts by ABC News to make contact with the families were not initially successful.
