Court records provide new details about Lincoln girl accused of killing father
A 15-year-old girl, who has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her father, will appear in court on Wednesday afternoon, and is expected to be charged as an adult for first-degree murder.
By News Channel NebraskaLINCOLN, Neb. -- A 15-year-old girl, who has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her father, will appear in court on Wednesday afternoon, and is expected to be charged as an adult for first-degree murder.
Her 16-year-old boyfriend is accused of helping and will also likely be charged as an adult.
On Monday around 4 p.m., Lincoln Police responded to The Lodge Apartments, southeast of 40th and Highway 2, after a 15-year-old girl called 911 saying she came home from school and found her father stabbed.
Officers found 70-year-old Jesse Gilmer had been stabbed to death.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the girl and her 16-year-old boyfriend started planning the murder roughly a week before it happened.
The girl told officers she “was stressed out from her parent’s constant fighting and Jesse’s mental abuse”, the documents state.
According to the documents, investigators believe the plan was for the girl's boyfriend to commit the crime and make it appear she discovered her father deceased after school.
The affidavit states the boyfriend drove the girl home from school to carry out the murder, then drove her back to school for a short time. They then drove back to the apartment and called the police, court documents allege.
The knife used in the incident was reportedly given to the girl by her boyfriend for protection.
This killing marks the 10th homicide in Lincoln this year. This is a 122% increase over the previous five-year average and a 25% increase over the trends for just the last two years, but Chief Ewins maintains Lincoln people aren’t in danger.
“We can’t ignore what’s occurred, but the thing I constantly tell you when we’re looking at these cases is whether it’s random or interaction prior to event,” said Chief Ewins. “Every case we’ve brought forward is not random.”
Ewins said violent crime continues to be down compared to the previous year average. Robberies are down 20% and aggravated assaults are down 21%.
“I feel very comfortable living in Lincoln,” Ewins said. “This is a very safe community and our officers are doing the best we can.”
Ewins said the number of major investigations, including five homicides in September alone, and the serious car accident officers have responded to are taking a toll on a stretched-thin department.