12 Year-Old Girl Accused Of Trying To Murder Mother With Bleach After Taking Away Her iPhone

A 12 year-old girl in Colorado has been detained allegedly for attempting to kill her mother twice by poisoning her drinks with bleach after she was prohibited from using her Apple iPhone, police said, according to ABCNews. Local authorities have not released the names of the mother or daughter in the case.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says the mother began to feel sick March 2 after drinking a smoothie. She detected the smell of bleach from her glass and simply assumed her daughter hadn’t rinsed it properly after cleaning it.

A few days later, the mother recognized the same smell coming from another drink and confronted her daughter. The girl confirmed she wanted to kill her mother for taking away away her iPhone, and had poured bleach into her mother’s water container, the sheriff’s office said.

The mother contacted the authorities to further investigate March 6 after she began to feel ill and was checking into Boulder Community Hospital. She recovered fully and doesn’t have any remaining health issues, the sheriff’s office said.

The daughter was detained at the Boulder County Juvenile Center on two counts of attempted first-degree murder. She will be held pending charges.

"She had pre-planned this a couple different times," Sgt. Bill Crist of the sheriff's office said.

The investigation continues, and the Boulder County district attorney’s office will decide which charges to pursue. There are two main classes of bleach poisonings -- those related to inhalation and those related to ingestion. People who inhale excessive amounts of bleach, or sodium hypochlorite, often experience respiratory problems, rashes, blurred vision and watery eyes.

If someone swallows bleach, as the mother did, he or she is likely to become violently ill, lose the ability to think coherently or speak and experience a strong burning sensation in the stomach.

Police did not say whether the daughter will be tried as an adult, though 26 out of 50 states allow minors to be charged as adults depending on the severity of their crimes.