It is believed that the three suspects, aged 14 and 15 respectively, chose their victims at random and killed them in a meadow.
Three young people allegedly killed a homeless man in the Lippe neighborhood (North Rhine-Westphalia) and filmed the crime. A 14-year-old and two 15-year-olds were arrested, public prosecutor Alexander Görlitz said on Friday. A passerby discovered the dead man in a meadow in Horn-Bad Meinberg on Thursday morning. According to the Public Ministry, the two older teenagers admitted to violence against the homeless man.
The identity of the victim, who will be autopsied on Friday, has already been clarified, according to the Detmold Public Prosecutor’s Office. Görlitz assumes that the victim and attacker met by chance.
The young people filmed the attack and distributed it. Through these recordings, investigators were able to track the group. The suspects were scheduled to appear before a judge on Friday.
Increasingly young perpetrators
In recent years, crimes committed by children and young people have repeatedly caused horror. According to data from the Criminal Police of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, 20,948 children – i.e. those under the age of 14 – were registered as suspects in last year’s situation report. This represents an increase of 41.1%. Among young people (up to 18 years old) there were 44,871 suspects (24 percent more) and among teenagers (up to 21 years old) investigators counted 36,157 criminal suspects (5.2 percent more).
In March 2023, two girls aged 12 and 13 killed a classmate near Siegen. 12-year-old Luisa was the victim of a crime in a forest near Freudenberg, on her way home. The girls confessed to the crime.
In Wunsiedel, Bavaria, a ten-year-old girl was reportedly killed by an eleven-year-old child in an orphanage in early April. In Lohr am Main, in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot a classmate of the same age on school grounds in September.
In January, a 15-year-old girl pushed a 78-year-old woman off her bicycle in Ellwangen in Baden-Württemberg. The woman died from her injuries. The reason was unclear, neither of them knew each other. A few days earlier, the 15-year-old allegedly knocked down a wheelchair user after an argument. (APA/dpa)