Claire Miller to be tried as adult in sister’s death
By Matt Barcaro
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MANHEIM TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — A judge has ruled that a Lancaster County girl accused of killing her sister will be tried as an adult. Judge David Workman said the juvenile system “does not allow enough time for her to be mentally rehabilitated.”
Manheim Township police say Claire Miller, who is 16 now, admitted to killing her sister Helen in their home last year.
The defense and prosecution presented their cases regarding Miller’s status at a hearing last month.
The prosecution argued Miller was “obsessed with homicide,” citing thousands of text messages she sent to a friend expressing a desire to harm someone.
The defense countered by saying Claire “suffered a psychotic first break” and didn’t mean to harm the sister she loved.
Doctors called to the stand said she could be rehabilitated, but prosecutors argued she would be a danger to society if she were released from the juvenile system in five years.
Miller’s parents testified that they had lost one daughter and don’t want to lose their other daughter to prison.
Miller was 14 when she admitted to killing her 19-year-old sister. Police said they found her outside her home, covered in blood, on Feb. 22, 2021, and she told them she had stabbed her sister to death.
Pennsylvania law In Pennsylvania, homicide is automatically treated as an adult crime, but a minor can petition to move the case to juvenile court.
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