Sisters, 15 and 11, charged with murder of older brother

LAKE CITY, Fla., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- While Misty and Keith Kornegay were away on a trucking job, their daughters, aged 11 and 15, killed their older brother, police in Florida said.

Now, the two sisters have been charged as juveniles with premeditated murder and a 3-year-old sister is in the custody of child welfare officials. The Kornegays have been charged with child neglect.

A judge ordered the two girls held without bond at a hearing Wednesday. Bail was set at $20,000 each for the parents.

Murray Smith, a spokesman for the Columbia County Sheriff's Department, said investigators believe the older girl shot her 16-year-old brother. But he said the younger girl was involved in the killing in some way.

"There's no real rhyme or reason to it," Smith told the Gainesville Sun. "Obviously there were problems with the children."

The girls were found by a police officer Monday night walking to White Springs, about 4 miles from their home. A friend's mother called police after the younger girl called to say she and her sister had run away from home.

Jeff Siegmeister, the state's attorney for the area, said he was still trying to decide how to deal with the case, especially since juveniles, under Florida law, can only be held for 30 days after arrest.

"Sometimes we can send them home after that, but in light of all of the facts in this case, we don't have any place to send the children," Siegmeister said. "I may be forced to actually charge them as adults to hold them in juvenile detention until I can work something out. I don't know all of the facts yet."

A police report said the older girl, when she was first questioned, sat putting on makeup and trying to dodge many questions. But then she broke down in tears and admitted she had killed her brother.

The boy's body was found on the living room floor of the family home.