Teenage Brazilian Serial Killer

Sat, 26 June, 2010

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,540226,00.html

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2592734/Girl-aged-17-knifes-30-men-to-death.html

If her confession proves to be true, she would be the most prolific teenage serial killer in history. Outside of the recent upswing in school shootings post-Columbine, the instances of teenagers who commit multiple murders are extremely rare. Most teenagers who commit multiple murders usually attack their parents or other family members, not strangers. The teenage serial killer is even rarer. In the United States one of the more famous teenage serial killers is Craig Price, also known as the “Warwick Slasher”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Price
The unnamed Sao Paulo teenager states that the reason she came forward was avoid upsetting her family and to avoid being tried as an adult. I am unaware of the legal possibility of trying juveniles as adults in Brazil, however, this tactic is unlikely to work in most States in theU.S.

In America, there is a broad precedent for trying juvenile as adults for violent crimes. In fact, the state of Rhode Island recently changed their state law on minors being tried as adults largely because of the Craig Price case. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22273461/

In Colorado, the youngest a child may be tried as an adult is at the age of 12, but certain specific requirements must be met. See Colorado Revised Statute 19-2-517http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/olls/PDF/WHEN%20A%20CHILD%20CAN%20BE%20TRIED%20AS%20AN%20ADULT.pdf.

Laws on trying children as adults in the United States will vary State to State, and the age requirements and type of crime committed will vary as well.

I am interested in following this case as it develops to learn the true motives of this teenager and to see what sort of help was provided to her in these killings. As some of the bodies were hidden or moved, it seems highly unlikely that a teenage female would be able to commit these crimes by herself. Additionally, this wouldn’t be the first case of organized crime or drug cartels using a teenager as an enforcer in their criminal enterprise.