Girls charged with attempted murder for rat poison in milk

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Two girls were charged with attempted murder today after authorities said they put rat poison into milk cartons of two fellow students.

The girls, one 12, the other 13, both of Lakeview, were being held at a juvenile detention facility in Klamath Falls.

"The investigation reveals there was some premeditation and thought before the act," said Lake County District Attorney David Schutt. "It wasn't a spur of the moment event."

The girls are accused of putting rat poison in the milk cartons of two other girls during the lunch hour yesterday at Daly Middle School, authorities said. Although the girls attend Daly, they eat lunch in the Lakeview High School cafeteria.

Daly Middle School has 120 students in seventh and eight grades, and 14 teachers.

At about 1 p.m. Monday, Daly's principal, Lane Stratton, notified the Lakeview police about an unidentified substance found floating in two milk cartons.

Schutt said green, crystalline pellets of rat poison were found in the cartons.

"It wasn't until they finished their milk that they saw it at the bottom," he said. "I don't think it had time to work it's way into the milk."

The two victims and one of the suspects — who may have gotten some of the poison in her own milk — were evaluated at Lake District Hospital and released, Schutt said.