Slender Man-Obsessed Teen Sets Home on Fire as Family Sleeps Inside
Lily Marie Hartwell, 14, of Port Richey, Fla. reportedly admitted to police that she set her family's home on fire early Thursday morning by soaking a blanket and towel with rum and bleach and then lighting them in her garage, knowing her mother and nine-year-old brother were asleep inside. Her family managed to escape the fire and when Hartwell was found later, she allegedly told police she frequents Slender Man sites Creepy Pasta and Soul Eater.
"Mom Im so sorry I dont know why I did it," Hartwell apparently texted her mother later, WTSP reports. The teen was found several hours after firefighters and police arrived at her home. After setting her home ablaze, according to the Tampa Bay Times, she apparently walked to a nearby park, toting a bag packed with "clothes, bottled water, cookies, knives, lighters and flashlights," and went to sleep in a public bathroom.
According to WTSP, Hartwell told police she started the fire after reading Soul Eater, "which made her upset about past bullying and her mother disciplining her prior to bedtime." Her journal found by police apparently contains passages "that included thoughts of 'killing'" and one that reads, "If this keeps up there will be no one safe in this house" and "Mom if you ever find this before it happens Im sorry..."
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told reporters Thursday that he does not believe the Slender Man sites directly influenced the teen to set her own house on fire. According to Suncoast News, she has been charged by police with one count of arson and two counts of attempted murder.