Teen girl held in Harrison plot may face felony charges

A 16-year-old girl accused of being a co-conspirator in a plot to gun down Harrison High School classmates at a pep rally could face a felony charge when she appears in court Thursday.

The two teens arrested in the alleged plot — the girl and a 17-yearold boy — have been handled differently: He’s been charged with a felony and released; she’s been charged with a misdemeanor and remains in custody.

The boy is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The girl has been charged with interference with staff, faculty or students at an educational institution.

“After cases are reviewed, there can be charges added. We’ll know more Thursday,” 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Denise Minish said.

Arrested two weeks ago, the two 11th-graders are accused of plotting to shoot as many students as possible in the gymnasium.

Their goal, Colorado Springs police said, was to kill more than the 32 killed by a gunman April 16 at Virginia Tech before he committed suicide. They allegedly had different motivations — the boy said he wanted to prove that schools weren’t safe, and the girl said she just didn’t like people, according to police.

The two had maps of the south-central Colorado Springs school, and the boy had instructions for making pipe bombs, which they intended to set underneath bleachers, according to a police report.

Tuesday, some questioned the decision to release the boy from Spring Creek Youth Services Center a week ago.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous this kid is out,” said Doug Fischer, who has five children in Colorado Springsarea public schools.

On May 8, Magistrate William Trujillo released the boy into his mother’s custody, ordering constant supervision.

Prosecutors objected, Minish said. “We felt that it wasn’t appropriate to release him,” she said.

Trujillo did not return a call seeking comment.

Youth corrections officials said they could not discuss any specifics about the boy.

Every youth is assessed to determine whether he or she should remain in detention or go home or into another arrangement, said Palmer Johnson, executive director of Mission Possible, a private, nonprofit contractor that performs the screenings in the 4th Judicial District.

They consider the youth’s family situation, substance abuse and other risk factors before making a recommendation to the court.

If a judge decides to release the child, the options are to not supervise them at all, require a bond or require them to be tracked.

Until about five years ago, authorities had the option of using electronic monitors. But because of funding problems, that’s no longer an option, Johnson said.

Instead, “trackers” check in with the youths on a regular basis. Johnson couldn’t provide details because that’s done by another agency, which couldn’t be contacted Tuesday.

It’s not uncommon for codefendants in a case to be handled differently, with some remaining in detention while others are released, Johnson said. That is often based on their criminal histories.

Prosecutors could also decide to charge the teens as adults. To do that, the case would have to meet certain requirements — the juvenile must be at least 14 years old and be charged with a class 1 or class 2 felony. In this case, the conspiracy charge is a class 2 felony.

They also must take into account the type of charge and criminal history, she said.

If these cases meet those requirements, the district attorney has the discretion to charge as an adult.

That’s not a decision that must be made immediately, Minish said.