A teenager has been charged with murder after allegedly admitting killing her severely disabled older sister while their parents slept.
Claire Elaina Miller, 14, from Pennsylvania is said to have confessed to the crime in a hysterical 911 call to authorities in the early hours of Monday February 22.
She admitted fatally stabbing her older sister, 19-year-old Helen Miller, who had cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair.
“I stabbed my sister,” Claire is said to have repeatedly told police when they arrived at the house just after 1am to find her standing close to “what appeared to be blood on the snow near the driveway”, The Daily Beast reports.
“Claire appeared to be attempting to wash her hands in the snow,” police said, adding that the teenager, a ninth-grader at a local private school, also had blood on her pants.
Police said Claire directed them into her older sister’s bedroom, where Helen was found with a “pillow with blood stains” over her face.
An officer removed the pillow and “found a large knife in Helen’s neck, just above her chest”.
“Helen was lying on her back with her hands up near her head” and that “there was a large amount of blood pooled near her chest and bed,” police added. They said attempts were made to resuscitate her but she was sadly pronounced dead at 4:13 a.m.
The coroner’s office released an autopsy report on Wednesday confirming Helen Miller died from multiple stab wounds.
Claire, who has been charged as an adult, was denied bail during a court hearing.
Pennsylvania is one of several US states where the burden of proof is automatically placed on a juvenile who has been charged with murder. This means her name and mugshot can be released to the public.
According to police the girls’ parents were asleep during the incident that has sent shockwaves through Manheim Township, a small Pennsylvania community about 75 miles west of Philadelphia.
The tragic incident has shocked the close-knit community.
“We were so saddened to learn of Helen’s tragic and unexpected passing. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the Miller family. This is a devastating tragedy,” a spokesperson for the Manheim Township School District said in a statement.