STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The 14-year-old called 911, police said
- Officers found her sister upstairs stabbed 40 times
- Neighbors say the sisters seemed close and played together
- The 14-year-old is in a juvenile detention center
(CNN) -- An 11-year-old Illinois girl was stabbed 40
times by her 14-year-old sister, police say, and the reason why has
many in the small Chicago-area community of Mundelein reeling in
disbelief.
Police found the
11-year-old girl unconscious and in need of medical attention in an
upstairs bedroom of the dwelling Tuesday morning. She later died.
Because the sister, who
called police, initially told officers an intruder was to blame for the
attack, authorities briefly placed three schools on lockdown.
The truth, when it emerged, was even more shocking.
Police: Teen killed younger sister
The 14-year-old,
authorities say, repeatedly and fatally stabbed the victim -- her half
sister -- with a kitchen knife because the teen thought she was
ungrateful.
"This incident is a
heartbreaking tragedy that defies understanding," said Mundelein Mayor
Steve Lentz. "I am asking the Chicagoland area, please pray for us.
Pray, first of all, for the family that has been devastated by this."
A group called "Mundelein
Moms" is raising money for the girl's funeral and said it raised $6,381
in just one day. There also is an effort to have residents leave their
lights on Friday night in remembrance.
Intruder in the house
Police received a 911
call about the incident at 8:30 a.m Tuesday. The call came from the
14-year-old girl, said Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther.
The teen told emergency dispatchers that an intruder had barged into the home, attacked her sister and then fled, CNN affiliate WLS reported.
Schools in area were immediately placed on lockdown, Guenther said.
"The area-wide school lockdown lasted only 15 minutes," he said.
But the teen's story unraveled quickly. Under police questioning, she admitted to the attack, authorities said.
Feeling unappreciated
The teen told police she
was mad that her sister didn't appreciate all she did for her,
prosecutors said at the suspect's detention hearing Wednesday. WLS was
at the hearing.
The teen said she cooked
dinner for her younger sibling and performed other chores. She was also
angry that the 11-year-old girl had recently hit her.
The night before the
attack, the teen thought about it for about 10 or 15 minutes, then went
downstairs and grabbed a knife, according to prosecutors.
After the stabbing, she
took a shower to wash off the blood, called police and made up the story
about the intruder, prosecutors said.
The 14-year-old was arrested and was charged with murder.
The case is in juvenile
court and a decision could be made in the future to move the case to
adult court, the Lake County State Attorney's Office said.
Playing together
Those who knew the girls said they lived at the home with their mother. Neighbors said the siblings seemed close.
The girls were often seen playing together and practicing cheerleading routines, WLS reported.
"They would always be together," Mary Ann Gryder, a neighbor told the affiliate.
"The older one would be taking care of the younger one, and vice versa."