The trial was long and difficult. Marianne was held in a juvenile detention facility since her arrest nearly a year ago. She was one of the nation’s youngest murder defendants, and was convicted of an adult charge of second-degree murder, but the judge called the law under which she was charged “fundamentally flawed.”
“While there is no guarantee Marianne will be rehabilitated at age twenty-one, it is clear that nine years is enough to accomplish this goal,” Judge Ronald Fisher said. “Marianne Singer will stay locked away for at least nine years and will be released at age twenty-one whether or not she is rehabilitated,” he further stated.
Marianne’s case gained national attention as she became the first youth charged with second-degree murder to be prosecuted under a 1992 Indiana law that allowed adult prosecutions of children of any age in serious felony cases.
Judge Fisher said Marianne's family, and especially her parents, are permanently emotionally scarred as a result of "this horror.”
Peter Facinelli argued she deserved a lesser sentence and she wept as he talked to the judge.
"Your honor, we are all diminished as a society by the fact that one so young is to be sentenced for a crime so serious,” he said. “I express my sorrow to the Zachary family for all the losses they have been through..." Marianne dabbed at her tears.
The trial judge also talked of the state when delivering his sentence.
The newspapers reported only that a twelve year-old local girl was judged a danger to the community and sentenced Tuesday to nine years at The Harmon Correctional Facility, a secure detention facility for girls.
Her attorney said he was shocked by the decision and asked Judge Robert Fisher to reconsider it, especially in light of the eleven months she had already spent in juvenile detention. Mr. Facinelli also asked that the girl be released to foster care as an alternative. In deciding the case, Judge Fisher rejected Facinelli's request that she be placed in a foster home. Instead, he followed a recommendation by Madison County Human Services Department social worker, Beverly Holland, who called Marianne uncontrollable, dangerous and a threat to the citizens of Madison County. Ms. Holland said at the Harmon Correctional Facility she will be in a secure facility where she can receive counseling and education, and learn to accept authority and deal with the issues that caused this atrocity.
He said the girl could be released from custody sooner than the nine year sentence, depending on her behavior.
Facinelli said he would decide whether to file an appeal after conferring with Marianne’s parents. Rex didn’t attend the trial.