Teen jealousy led to girl's slaying, murder trial told

Murder trial told that a schoolgirl Stefanie Rengel was killed by her former boyfriend whose girlfriend pressured him to kill her over jealousy.

The prosecutor Robin Flumerfelt alleged that Rengel was lured from home and was stabbed six times to death by her former boyfriend in the early evening of New Year's Day 2008. Flumerfelt testified that the murder was planned through numerous phone calls and MSN messages in which the accused girl urged her boyfriend to kill Rengel over jealousy.

The prosecutor said, "Stefanie Rengel was savagely murdered for no other reason than that (the accused) had decide it was time for her to die."

The accused girl, who is now 17 and was then 15, pleaded not guilty today to first-degree murder.

The prosecutor also told the jury that the killer visited a friend's home after the murder and confessed that he stabbed Rengel. The accused girl called him and asked if he had killed Rengel. Then, the accused girl asked how they would cover it up.

The prosecutor said that the boyfriend had visited Rengel and said, "tell her(the accused girl) so she'll stop pestering me to kill you." According to police, in a web chat, the girlfriend said, "I want her dead ... LOL. UR (you are) getting blocked until u (you) kill her."

Opinion: I can't believe such a cruel crime has been committed by a girl and a boy of my age group. Although I believe the accused boy is more responsible for the crime, I think the accused girl should also be punished. Threats like "UR getting blocked until u kill her" can't be an excuse for killing a person. Also, I can't believe a teenager said "I want her dead" with a LOL. This shows that the girl would not feel guilty at all about the death of her friend because of her. I think this appalling story was stemed from lack of morality in the teenagers minds. In fact, many teenagers are exposed to media, such as movies and video games, that are extremely violent and adults view that these media will negatively influence teenagers and deteriorate their ability to differentiate what is right and what is wrong.