Second girl, 16, is charged as adult in plot

castle rock » Prosecutors on Thursday filed adult charges against the second of two 16- yearold girls accused of plotting to kill staffmembers and classmates last month at their Douglas County high school.

Brooke Higgins joins her alleged co- conspirator, Sienna Johnson, in facing two counts of conspiracy to commit first- degree murder — a Class 2 felony — in the suspected scheme.

Jason Siers, senior chief deputy district attorney, says investigators believe the two colluded on a plot to attack Mountain Vista High School, refuting claims by Higgins’ lawyer that the girls’ cases are distinct.

“They planned together to do this mass shooting,” Siers said.

During Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors said Higgins searched the Internet for ways to purchase firearms as a minor, using a site described as “a Craigslist for weapons.”

Among her searches, Higgins allegedly tried to find out if a child could purchaseweapons at gun shows and sought information on female mass shooters, authorities said.

Higgins wrote in her journal that she wished she could have participated in the 1999 Columbine High School attack, which left 12 students and a teacher dead, prosecutors said.

A friend told investigators that Higgins gave her instructions to followanywarning not to come to school.

“This is a thought crime, at best,” said Higgins’ attorney, DagnyVan Der Jagt, characterizing prosecutors’ case as one without any real weight.

Van Der Jagt said Higgins is being treated for depression. She explained that Higgins’ alleged Columbine musings were in a therapeutic journal written by a child.

“There have been no concerning bombs, weapons or any other kind of materials found in her home,” VanDer Jagt told reporters after the hearing. “There is no mention of any type of plot in her writings.

But District Judge Paul King agreed with prosecutors that Higgins’ online searches were troubling.

“They are more than problematic, given the circumstances,” King said.

Higgins, shackled and clad in jail clothes, appeared to cry in court as lawyers discussed her case. Her parents sat behind her, and at one point, the teen’s father consoled her by rubbing her arm and handing her tissues.

As happened in Johnson’s case, there will be a hearing in which the case will be presented to King to determinewhether the case will remain in adult court or be sent down to juvenile jurisdiction.

Authorities say Johnson made detailed maps of the high school in Highlands Ranch that included locations of specific community members, including deputies assigned to protect the campus.

According to prosecutors, Johnson referenced the movie “Natural Born Killers” in her journal, a reputed obsession of the Columbine attackers.

Cases inwhich juvenile allegations are moved to adult court are so rare that prosecutors and King, who is presiding over both cases, have at times struggled with fiercely debated Colorado statutes.

King has maintained that until he rules whether the girls will be tried as adults, he will offer them juvenile protections, such as sealing arrest records.

Authorities say the girls’ scheme was foiled in December days before it was supposed to be carried out. The county sheriff’s office was tipped off via text message.

Johnson and Higgins, who were arrested Dec. 12, are being held on $ 1 million bail.

Prosecutors have argued the girls are a danger to the community.

Higgins is due in court Jan. 21. Johnson’s hearing to decide whether her case will remain in adult court is scheduled for March 30.