A 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a woman to death in Melbourne’s inner west will no longer face murder charges.
On Thursday, prosecutors asked a juvenile court to have charges against the girl dropped, but gave no reason.
The magistrate retired and dismissed the murder charge.
He faces no further offenses after police also dropped charges in two other separate matters.
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, did not appear in court in person or via video link on Thursday.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the murder charge was withdrawn following significant consideration and advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
12-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing woman in Footscray apartment no longer faces charges
“The director’s position was that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction in this matter because the prosecution would not have been able to rebut the presumption of doli incapax,” the statement read.
Doli incapax is the presumption that a child under the age of 13 is incapable of understanding the wrongfulness of his or her actions and therefore cannot be convicted of a crime.
The 12-year-old girl was being evaluated by a psychiatrist in relation to doli incapax.
She was accused of fatally stabbing a 37-year-old woman in a Footscray apartment on November 16, 2023.
The court was told detectives arrived to find blood all over the apartment’s kitchen and bathroom floor, with the girl and two neighbors waiting in the hallway.
Neighbors had called triple zero after a noise woke them up around 1:30 a.m. and found the 12-year-old girl crying in the hallway.
The girl told one of the neighbors that the woman had committed suicide and had tried to drag her into the shower.
The neighbors entered the apartment and found the woman’s lifeless body on the bathroom floor, naked and covered in stab wounds.
A knife was apparently found in the victim’s hand and a pair of bloody white sneakers was found next to the body.
Police confiscated the shoes and knife, along with false nails, condoms, cans of deodorant and clothing.
Neighbors found the woman’s body on the floor of the apartment’s bathroom, naked and covered in stab wounds. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)
Prosecutors asked a magistrate to allow them to take DNA from the girl to compare it to her nails and shoes.
The magistrate noted issues around the girl’s mental capacity to consent to giving DNA due to her intellectual disability and because she is estimated to have the maturity of someone half her age.
Prosecutors withdrew the DNA request Thursday, along with the murder charge.
Victoria Police confirmed the 37-year-old woman’s death had been referred to the coroner.
“The victim’s family has been notified and we will continue to support them throughout this process,” the spokeswoman said.
“Our thoughts are with them today.”
More to come
