The incident happened while the girl's mother and her nine year old brother were sleeping. At 1:45 am, they were awakened by a smoke alarm and realized that their house was on fire. They miraculously escaped from the fire unharmed.
The fire was caused by 14-year-old Lily Marie Hartwell who is a 7th grade student at Chasco Middle School. She used a towel and a bed sheet and soaked them in bleach and rum before burning them up in the garage of her house in Port Richey, Florida. As the flames started to become bigger, she escaped to a nearby park and spent the night in a bathroom. She brought with her some clothes, bottled water, cookies, flashlights, lighters, and knives.
When the mother learned that her daughter was not outside their burning house, she thought of going back in and look for her. However, the flames were so huge that she couldn't go back. The firefighters searched her house three times to look for the girl but didn't find her.
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did it. Did any of you get hurt?" said Lily in her text message to her mother. A few hours later, the authorities were able to find her location and arrested her. She was charged with one count of arson and two counts of attempted murder.
Lily told police that she thought about setting her home on fire after reading "Soul Eater." This made her feel upset about bullying incidents in the past and the way her mother disciplines her right before bedtime.
"Soul Eater" is an ebook that talks about killing people.
Lily also visited the site creepypasta.com which is a popular site among fans of Slender Man. The latter is described as a gaunt, abnormally tall fictional figure that is featured in one of the most terrifying stories found in the Internet.
Police also found the girl's journal which was marked with the words "Keep Out." In one entry, the girl wrote: "If this keeps up there will be no safety in this house." The journal also had entries which talked about the girl's obsession with Slender Man.
"There's a clear direction," said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco. "She's involved in reading these things."
This is the fourth time that a violent case has been linked to Slender Man. In May, a 12-year old girl was stabbed by her classmates 19 times because they wanted to please Slender Man. Fortunately, the girl lives and is trying to put her life back to where it was left off.
