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Mother of girl, 12, who stabbed her brother, nine, to death in 'demonic' rage pens heartbreaking 800-word defense of her 'happy, energetic, normal, god-fearing child' - as she vows to stand by her
The girl stabbed her nine-year-old brother Zander to death on January 5
Bodycam footage released this week shows her sobbing and blaming it on 'some demonic s**t'
Her mother, April Holder, says she was a normal child until she was put on the unspecified medication
By JEN SMITH, CHIEF REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 08:52 EDT, 1 June 2023 | UPDATED: 10:13 EDT, 1 June 2023
The mother of the 12-year-old Oklahoma girl who stabbed her brother to death in a 'demonic' rage says she was a normal child until she went back on a medication that she'd been taken off for a year, and that had caused her to start cutting herself.
The girl, who DailyMail.com is not naming, is now being treated in a children's facility in Tulsa.
On January 5, she stabbed her nine-year-old brother, Zander, to death in their home in an as-yet unexplained attack.
Her mother told police she stabbed him three times while he was lying in his bed, trying to sleep.
Afterwards, as she was being placed into handcuffs, the girl sobbed: 'I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened.
It's some demonic s**t'. '
The case resurfaced this week with the release of harrowing bodycam footage of her arrest, and her mother, April's initial conversations with police while her son was in the hospital.
He died of his injuries a short time later. In all of the footage released by Tulsa Police Department, the mother and daughter both believe the boy is still alive.
In the months since the attack, April's friends have set up a fundraiser to help her move with her three-year-old son. Her 12-year-old daughter remains in a juvenile facility receiving treatment.
In an update on the fundraising page - which has so far raised $10,000 - the grieving mother told this week how her daughter was a 'normal' teenage' who never even 'yelled' at her until she went back on an ''unspecified medication ''that she'd stopped taking for a year.
'They were good kids… they were raised as God fearing children and never had behavioral issues until she was put back on a medication she was off for over a year,' she said.
''She did not specify what type of medication the girl was taking but said, 'no it wasn’t psych meds'. ''
Since killing her brother in January, the girl has been receiving treatment in a center where her mother says she seems to be improving.
'She has been very well behaved the entire 6 months she has been gone.
'I’m very supportive of her and love her very much. Obviously there is a lot of healing that we both need before we can ever live together again and she needs mental and emotional help after this, she could have permanent damage we don’t know yet…' she said.
When she was taken into custody, the girl had cuts on her arms which she told police were self-inflicted.
The girl's mother said this week she never self-harmed until she went back on the medication.
'My daughter was not a cutter. 'She had old cuts from two months prior from when she was first put back on her meds and everyone agreed to take her off immediately and so I did and unfortunately it was too late the damage was done.'
She added that when she first entered the room where her daughter stabbed Zander, she thought an intruder was to blame.
'I was confused and shocked, I thought someone broke into my Home and hurt my kids and I thought my daughter ran away for safety.
'I did not ever think or imagine that one of my kids would do such a thing.
'She was as normal as your child, as any 12-year-old.'
It remains unclear what will come of the child if and when she completes her treatment program. The disturbing bodycam footage is 25 minutes long and shows the moment the girl, screaming and running out of the house, is met with police officers.
It begins with the girl running out of the family home, screaming 'I'm so sorry mama! I don't know what happened!'
She continued to apologize, choking on tears while sitting with her legs crossed on the grass outside the family home.
'I really didn't want this to happen like this, this sucks. I'm probably going to go to jail and live the rest of my life in prison,' she sobbed while helping police retrieve the knife she threw out of her bedroom window after carrying out the attack.
Her mother, upon realizing it was her daughter who'd committed the violent attack, is stunned.