Florida girl placed on 'blacklist' targeting 8 students, sheriff's office says

A 14-year-old girl in Florida has been arrested and charged with multiple crimes after she was accused of having an eight-name “victim list” on her phone, authorities said Thursday.

The girl, who was named by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, was charged with eight counts of uttering written threats, officials said in a statement. NBC News is not naming her because she is a minor.

“After anonymous information Tuesday afternoon, school teachers notified deputies of a list of eight names of minors on [her] phone which she referred to as a 'kill list,'” Chief Deputy Sheriff Brian Hester said. “The parents of these minors have been contacted.”

No weapons were found in the child's home, Hester said. But the conditions of detention there were described as “deplorable”.

Cocaine and drug paraphernalia were in plain sight, police said. The teen's mother, 40, was arrested and charged with child neglect, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia after a search of the home, police said.

“We are committed to providing a safe learning environment for our children and continue to work diligently with Saint Lucia Public Schools to do so,” Hester said. “It is also imperative that parents provide a safe home environment for their children and talk to their children about the dangers of written and verbal threats in the school environment and the consequences of their actions.

The girl was a student at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, police said. She was transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice, police said. Her mother was booked into the county jail, where she was being held on $6,250 bail, police said.

Relatives of the accused could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Port St. Lucie is approximately 50 miles north of West Palm Beach.