Court records provide new details about Lincoln girl accused of killing father
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A 15-year-old girl, who has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her father, was charged as an adult for first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony.
Sallie Gilmer appeared in Lancaster County Court via video camera Wednesday afternoon, along with her 16-year-old boyfriend, Isaac Honigschmidt. Honigschmidt was charged as an adult for aiding and abetting first degree murder.
They are both being held without bond.
On Monday around 4 p.m., Lincoln Police responded to The Lodge Apartments, southeast of 40th and Highway 2, after Sallie Gilmer called 911 and reported a stabbing. She told responding officers that she came home from school and found her father stabbed.
Officers found 70-year-old Jesse Gilmer Jr. had been stabbed to death.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Gilmer, and her boyfriend Isaac Honigschmidt, started planning the murder roughly a week before it happened.
Gilmer told officers she “was stressed out from her parent’s constant fighting and Jesse’s mental abuse”, the documents state.
According to the documents, investigators believe the plan was for Gilmer to commit the crime and make it appear she discovered her father dead after school.
The affidavit states Honigschmidt drove Gilmer home from school to carry out the murder, then drove her back to school for a short time. They then drove back to the apartment and called the police.
The knife used in the incident was reportedly given to Gilmer by Honigschmidt for protection.
This killing marks the 10th homicide in Lincoln this year. This is a 122% increase over the previous five-year average and a 25% increase over the trends for just the last two years, but Chief Ewins maintains Lincoln people aren’t in danger.
“We can’t ignore what’s occurred, but the thing I constantly tell you when we’re looking at these cases is whether it’s random or interaction prior to event,” said Chief Ewins. “Every case we’ve brought forward is not random.”
Ewins said violent crime continues to be down compared to the previous year average. Robberies are down 20% and aggravated assaults are down 21%.
“I feel very comfortable living in Lincoln,” Ewins said. “This is a very safe community and our officers are doing the best we can.”
Ewins said the number of major investigations, including five homicides in September alone, and the serious car accident officers have responded to are taking a toll on a stretched-thin department.
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