Cross-Exam of Accused Alta Girl Asks Why She Did Nothing to Stop Family’s Murder

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. (CP) – A 13-year-old Alberta girl who says it was her much older boyfriend who murdered her family says she did nothing to stop him because she was in a dream-like state.

The girl told the Crown during cross-examination that even though she saw her bloodied parents lying in the basement and witnessed Jeremy Steinke slit her brother’s throat, she didn’t try to call 911 because she was like a zombie.

The girl, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, also repeated several times that there was no actual murder plan.

The accused, who was 12 at the time her parents and younger brother were slain in their Medicine Hat Home, has already testified that she and Steinke talked about killing her family, but only hypothetically.

However, prosecutor Stephanie Cleary pointed out to the jury that the girl stole her mother’s purse, called a cab, withdrew money from her mother’s account and then went on to meet Steinke at his place.

Steinke, who is now 24 years old, also faces first-degree murder charges, but he has not yet entered a plea and no trial date has been set.