MalloryKeaton

http://cbs2.com/topstories/topstorie...323154039.html

Dad: Poison Cake A Horrible Prank

Teens Accused Of Handing Out Poisoned Cornbread Cake

Nov 18, 2004 12:30 pm US/Pacific
ATLANTA (AP) The father of one of two 13-year-old girls accused of serving poisoned cake to about a dozen students said Thursday he and his daughter were sorry it happened.

"It was a horrible prank that went too far and a lot of people have suffered," the father told The Associated Press. The man asked that he not be identified by name to protect his daughter.

The girls were held on assault charges Wednesday, a day after handing out the cornbread cake at East Cobb Middle School.

Lab tests showed the icing contained an expired prescription drug, bleach, clay and hot-pepper sauce, police said. Eleven students who ate it were treated at a hospital and released.

Both teens were charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit murder. One girl was also charged with terroristic acts and interference with government property. Both are still in custody, the father said.

Because the investigation is ongoing, Cobb Police Department spokesman Dana Pierce declined to comment on exactly how dangerous the cake was believed to be, saying only that it was potent enough to cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The father said the two girls had been bored Tuesday and began playing around in the kitchen.

"It was not any kind of malicious intent," he said. "They thought it would be funny. They know it's not funny now."

The father said his daughter was diagnosed this summer with Asperger's syndrome, and that doctors told him the girl should not be in a conventional school setting. Asperger's is an autism-related condition characterized by social and communication deficiencies.

(© 2004 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )


I think this is so wrong. It doesn't sound like a prank to me. It sounds like they did it on purpose.

Lovesbitch

The one girl I can understand, they were talking on the news how her diease can cause impulses and not being able to make good decisions. She may not have realized that it could really hurt people.

The other girl though...what's her excuse?

spent cigarette

"Intent to commit murder"? Come on, they're two thirteen-year-old girls, one who has a serious condition which could easily effect how she acted. This charge is pushing it a bit.

It was definetly a horrible prank gone wrong. Even if they did want to get a few people sick and vomitting for a twisted joke, I doubt they had any intent to kiil their peers.

LittleMilkJug

Terrorist acts? Is Al-Qiede about to sponge cake Americans to death?

always2nl

Trying to commit murder and Terrorist attack's?? Come on, there just kids. It was a prank, scare the hell out of them and the'll never do it again.

JW77

Very bad girls!! Now all those kids are going to have to think twice before eating cake again...that is if they ever want to eat it again.

Anyway, that school is right down the street from my house.

TheAngel

I blame the one father for keeping an emotionally unstable child in a public school setting. Also, thirteen year old kids, no matter what, should know that that is extremely dangerous. Perhaps putting in the hot pepper sauce if they wanted to play a prank...but bleach and clay and expired prescription medication. Also, what kind of family keeps expired prescriptions? Since the court made that decision regarding the charges I have a feeling that there is more to this story than what we are reading and perhaps this behavior has been going on for a while or perhaps something similar has happened before.

Maresa

I have a friend whose brother has Asperger's and she's very upset about this article.

I agree that the girl with the disease most likely did NOT realize the consequences of her actions, but I do question the other girl. And the father. A child with Asperger's should not be in a public school as they are too much of a threat.

And when I say threat, I don't mean terrorist. My gosh, THAT is about the most ridiculous thing I've heard since they thought that Columbia was a terrorist attack.

Citizen Sarah

I agree it is ridiculous however people with aspergers are not generally a threat- they are unable to properly evaluate their actions because they cannot physically emphathise. I think there is no reason why they cannot be educated in mainstream schools as long as they have adequate support (though as this syndrome has only really recently come to light their are very few methods of support indeed I know of one woman who helps people with aspergers who charges £500 an hour).

To me it sounds like a prank gone horribly wrong and it will be a great miscarriage of justice to give these girls (especailly the one with aspergers) anything more than a severe telling off.

Drekkan

Wait, they almost kill a dozen people and you all want to give them freaking medals?

Look, if they had eaten the cake as well, I'd accept the cake was nothing more then a prank. The mere act of them not eating the cake shows that they knew there were serious consequences to eating the cake.

The only one with a conceivable excuse is the one with the condition - but the other girl and the two parents should be locked up and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

A prank stops being a prank when someone gets hurt.

TheAngel

Lovesbitch

I think most people are generally only feeling the most compassion for the sepcial needs girl because she most likely didn't comprend the situation.

The other girl...ok, granted what she did was a horrible, horrible thing but she's 13. We don't make the smartest decision at 13.

Not that I'm saying the law shouldn't punish her, it should! I'm just saying the amount of charges bieng brought against her is overkill.

Maresa

"released because she was an honor-student and cheerleader"?

BITE ME!

You could be the friggin Pope and KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS WRONG.




The girl with Asperger's needs to be hospitalized and then, when released, placed in a special school where there is more of a watchful eye.


But releasing the girl just because she had no record or is a good student? I'm sure that means that she has no common sense and doesn't realize what she did was wrong.

Mandy Renay

So if it had been a student with a C average and who had been in ISS/Detention, it would be different? I don't like the way they said that. And they'd most likely think differently about it if it had been a boy, too.

Lovesbitch

I think the article probably phrased that wrong. I'm sure the main reason they released her was because of disorder along with the factors that she had never been a danger before.

And honestly, it would have been different is she had a past of getting in trouble. With repeat criminals they are less likely to give bail (or at least give higher bail) according to their record. These girls are so young they don't ahve one, so they just look at their school history.