12-Year-Old EXECUTES Chilling Family Murder Plot

A 12-year-old Texas girl shot her father and then took her own life after weeks of planning a cross-state murder pact with another preteen through social media, exposing the deadly dangers lurking in unsupervised online interactions that threaten our children.

Story Snapshot

  • Two 12-year-old girls planned for weeks to murder their families and pets before fleeing to Georgia
  • Weatherford girl shot her father in the abdomen before turning the gun on herself; she died while her father survived
  • The conspiracy was hatched through online connections, likely via TikTok or Snapchat, between girls living 200 miles apart
  • Lufkin accomplice backed out of killing her own father but faces criminal conspiracy charges

Murder Pact Executed in Suburban Texas

On September 20, 2022, at approximately 11:30 p.m., a 12-year-old girl in Weatherford, Texas—located 60 miles west of Dallas—shot her 38-year-old father in the abdomen inside their family home. After the shooting, she fled outside and turned the weapon on herself, inflicting a fatal head wound. Both were airlifted to area hospitals, where the girl later succumbed to her injuries while her father survived. This horrific act culminated weeks of sinister planning between two preteens who had never met in person but connected through social media platforms.

Cross-State Conspiracy Uncovered

Parker County Sheriff Russ Authier revealed the shooting stemmed from a weeks-long murder conspiracy between the Weatherford girl and another 12-year-old from Lufkin, Texas, approximately 200 miles away in the eastern part of the state. The girls plotted to kill their respective families and even their pets before running away together to Georgia. The Lufkin girl ultimately backed out of her portion of the deadly plan, choosing not to harm her own father, but authorities charged her with criminal conspiracy. This case starkly illustrates how children can forge dangerous relationships through screens, completely outside parental awareness or control.

Social Media Platforms Enable Deadly Plot

While investigators did not confirm the exact platform used, officials pointed to popular apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and gaming platforms as likely conduits for the girls’ relationship. Jessica Pebsworth, communications director for Lufkin, emphasized the critical lesson parents must learn: “This case illustrates how vitally important it is for parents to know who their children are friends with on social media like TikTok and Snapchat, and even gaming platforms.” Sheriff Authier limited information release due to the juveniles’ ages and case sensitivity, but the message rings clear—Big Tech’s failure to adequately protect minors creates environments where such conspiracies can flourish undetected.

Parental Vigilance Critical as Tech Companies Fail

This tragedy underscores the urgent need for parents to actively monitor their children’s online activities, something traditional American values of family oversight naturally support. Social media companies continue to profit from addictive platforms that connect children with strangers, often with minimal age verification or parental controls that actually work. The fact that two 12-year-olds could plan multiple murders across state lines for weeks without detection reveals a catastrophic failure of both tech company safeguards and parental awareness. Parents must reclaim their role as guardians of their children’s influences, whether those influences come through a screen or in person.

Limited Accountability for Young Conspirator

The Lufkin girl faces criminal conspiracy charges, though her case outcome remains unreported as of 2026. The Weatherford family lost a daughter while the father recovered from his gunshot wound, though his long-term condition has not been publicly disclosed. No legal action against social media platforms emerged from this case, despite their role in facilitating the deadly connection. This pattern of limited accountability for tech giants continues to frustrate families seeking protection for their children. The case stands as a grim warning that the digital world presents real-world dangers requiring constant parental engagement and, ideally, stricter oversight of platforms marketing to minors.

Sources:

12-year-old shoots her father then herself in murder pact with another girl, police say – Sky News

12-year-old girl shoots her father in plot to murder family – KOMO News

Texas girl, 12, who shot father, then herself, has died – UPI