1st-Graders Accused of Murder Plot LAKE STATION, Ind. (AP) - Three first-graders accused of plotting to kill a classmate were overcome with remorse once they were confronted with the gravity of the plan, their parents and counselors who evaluated them said Thursday. ``She's not eating, she's not sleeping, she's a mess. All she's done is cry,'' said the mother of one of the three girls at Virgil I. Bailey Elementary School. Police said the girls had plotted to kill a rival 7-year-old classmate because they were jealous of her. They planned to shoot her, but they also discussed killing her with a butcher knife or hanging her, Lake Station police Lt. Rich Arnold said. The three were suspended indefinitely while school officials await results of psychological evaluations. No weapons were found in a search of the school, but officials sent letters to parents of Bailey's students alerting them of the plot. Police Chief James Strine said investigators were taking the allegations seriously, and juvenile authorities will review the case. ``You're looking at first-graders. Technically, they're still babies, but if they shoot you you're just as dead,'' Strine said. The three girls admitted their involvement in the plot after a parent alerted school officials, said Lake Station Superintendent Charles Costa. Principal Michelle Friesen-Carper and counselor Nona Mackey met Thursday with students. ``We talked about making mistakes that we wished we hadn't,'' Friesen-Carper told The Post-Tribune of Gary.
