The newly released court documents of a murder case, which took place in July of this year, reveals the details surrounding the terrifying events that led to the murder of Maria Torres, at the hands of her own twelve-year-old stepdaughter. What makes the case stand out? The fact that the murder was blamed on the creepypasta legend might have something to do with it. The teenager told officials that “Laughing Jack” told her to do it.
The legend goes, Laughing Jack befriends children as an imaginary friend, before slicing them open and replacing their organs with candy.
The events that took place are not only sad, they could have been prevented. The Indiana girl heard voices, including the voice of Laughing Jack, months before the murder and begged her father to get her help, but he didn’t. The girl (her name protected by the court) has since been diagnosed with P.T.S.D. and Dissociate Identity Disorder, once known as Multiple Personality Disorder. She is now being held at the Goshen Juvenile Detention Center. Her lawyer and representatives have applied to several mental health facilities, but have been refused by sixteen facilities to date, due to the brutality of the murder. It seems that both her family and the mental health community have failed the girl and now she may spend the rest of her behind bars, rather it be an institution or a prison.
This is not the first time a creepypasta legend has been blamed for a murder or an assault. In August, a judge ruled that two Wisconsin girls, who assaulted a classmate, would be tried as adults for attemped murder. The girls stabbed their friend 19 times, it’s a miracle she survived. At the time the two young women claimed that Slender Man threatened that if they didn’t murder their friend, he would kill their families.
The truth is, legends may only live online or in the mind of those with mental illness, but it is society’s place to protect those who are the most vulnerable. When we fail, all of society pays the price.
