Teen pleads guilty to plotting knife attack at Black church, Georgia officials say
A Georgia teen charged in a foiled plot to kill worshipers at a predominately Black church will spend the next four years in a juvenile detention facility, multiple outlets have reported.
The 17-year-old girl entered a guilty plea Thursday before a judge also sentenced her to 10 years’ probation, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. She’ll remain held at the Department of Juvenile Justice until she turns 21.
The teen also apologized to the court, saying she was “truly sorry” for her actions, The Gainesville Times reported.
The former Gainesville High School student was charged with attempted murder last year after authorities say she planned a murderous knife attack on members at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church because of their race. The church is part of a family of AME churches across the South, including Mother Emanuel AME Church where gunman Dylann Roof killed nine Black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015.
Investigators said the teen “idolized” Roof, according to WSB-TV. She showed up to two night services at the church with plans to kill as many worshipers as possible, the station reported, citing police.
Authorities said it was a classmate who alerted school administrators after finding detailed plans for the attack in the teen’s notebook.
“She had written down how she wanted to do it, the best way to do it,” Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish said at the time, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. “She had procured some butcher knives, kitchen knives to do the attack with. I am highly alarmed, that someone would feel that way and take these significant steps to attack a person, a godly person at a church.”
Investigators believe she had been planning the attack for weeks and that “she was acting alone,” according to The Gainesville Times.
Per the judge’s order, the teen is to have no contact with AME churches in Georgia and must maintain at least 150 yards from any AME church.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 6:02 PM.