Lawyer: Girl accused of stabbing brother has mental disorder

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A judge has set bond at $1 million for a 15-year-old Michigan girl who prosecutors say stabbed her 12-year-old brother, wounding him, and conspired to kill other family members so she could run away with her 23-year-old boyfriend, reports CBS Detroit.

The suspect appeared in court Thursday, where she was arraigned and charged as an adult with one count of assault with intent to murder and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder in last Friday's attack. Dressed in burgundy jail garb, she looked down and softly cried throughout the entire proceeding.

Her 23-year-old boyfriend faces the same charges, as well as felonious assault. On Sunday, he was also ordered to be held on $1 million bond Sunday.

The girl's attorney, Leslie Posner, told the judge the girl suffers from reactive attachment disorder, or RAD, a rare but serious condition that occurs in children who have been neglected and are unable to form a healthy emotional attachment with their primary caregivers, usually their mother, before age five.

The girl was adopted from Poland, along with her siblings, when she was four years old, Posner said, adding that she suffered years of abuse before coming to America.

"They came from a very, very, very bad background," Posner said. "They were locked in closets, beaten" by their biological parents. "It's really tragic but they suppress a lot of what happened - post traumatic stress disorder-type thing - and then just the right bad group of events happened. And then something like this can happen."

CBS Detroit reports that the girl's parents were in court to support their daughter, but they don't plan to post bond for her. She is barred from having any contact with family members and is prohibited from being on her parent's property.

Prosecutors say the girl stabbed her brother in the throat multiple times and tried to stab her younger sister at the family's home in Plymouth Township, Mich. They say her boyfriend waited outside the home, sending text messages and pictures to instruct her.

The victim's screams alerted family members, who interrupted the 2 a.m. attack as the two suspects fled. The victim was treated at a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

The girl's parents told reporters she met her boyfriend on Facebook earlier this year and "fell under his spell."

"He was using her to do his dirty work," her mother told reporters. "I think she just thought that this guy loved her and she wanted to do whatever he told her. She was very vulnerable."

Despite the charges, the girl's parents say they plan to stand by their daughter.

"She has a mental disorder and she needs help, and I want to make sure she gets help. We are supportive of her," she said.