Teen Is Backed by Parents She Allegedly Plotted to Kill

Roksana Sikorski stabbed her younger brother in the throat and plotted to kill her parents, prosecutors say—but her parents say they're standing by the 15-year-old and want to make sure she gets the help she needs. The Plymouth Township, Mich., teen has been charged as an adult in last week's attack, which her parents say was orchestrated by the manipulative older boyfriend she ran away with, NBC News reports. The boyfriend, 23-year-old Michael Rivera, was allegedly outside the house texting instructions when Roksana attacked her 12-year-old brother. Both have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The brother survived the attack and is now out of the hospital.

The teen's lawyer says Rivera used the teen to do his "dirty work" after her parents went to the police about his relationship with their underage daughter, the Detroit News reports. Roksana's parents, who adopted her and her two siblings from a Polish orphanage more than 10 years ago, say she is very vulnerable and has psychological problems that stem from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her biological parents. The teen is banned from contacting her siblings, but the judge who set her bail at $1 million took the unusual step of allowing her to remain in contact with the parents she allegedly planned to kill, reports the Detroit Free Press. "We have a very strong bond with our daughter," her mother says. "We'd like to be supportive at this time, and I think it's important that we do have contact with her." (More Michigan stories.)