13-year-old girl charged in stabbing

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Metro Police arrested a 13-year-old girl for attempted murder after she allegedly stabbed a 14-year-old girl at the Badlands Golf Course Friday night.

Kody Fitzgerald, an eighth grader at Walter Johnson Junior High School, was taken into custody shortly after the attack on a fellow eighth grader, according to a Metro Police report.

She was still being held this morning in the Clark County Detention Center on $75,000 bail, a jail spokeswoman said.

In Nevada children 8 and older who are charged with murder, attempted murder and some sexual assaults are automatically treated as adults by the criminal justice system, making their police and court paperwork a part of the public record.

The Clark County district attorney's office has prosecuted many children in the adult system, but District Attorney David Roger said they don't typically see many 13-year-olds charged with such a serious offense.

"It's certainly on the young end of the spectrum," Roger said. "We're finding the youth of today is becoming more and more violent."

The alleged attack occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday at the golf course at 9119 Alta Drive in Summerlin.

Fitzgerald, the victim and several of their friends were gathered in a ditch at the golf course when the two teens got into an argument, the report says. It's not clear what the fight was about.

The victim and several other teens heard Fitzgerald say she was going to stab and "shank" the victim, the report says.

"Several witnesses warned Fitzgerald not to use the knife or do anything to (the victim) that she would regret," the report says. "Several witnesses asked Fitzgerald to hand over the knife but she refused."

Fitzgerald pushed the victim, the report says, then the victim hit Fitzgerald in the face.

"Fitzgerald then pulled out what witnesses described as a dagger-type knife and stabbed (the victim) in her left side," according to the report.

The victim sat back bleeding, and Fitzgerald ran through the golf course with her friends, according to the police report.

The victim was taken to University Medical Center's trauma unit and underwent surgery. She has been discharged from the hospital.

Fitzgerald was found at the golf course and arrested just before 9:30 p.m. She will is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning.