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Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old girl as an adult after they said she live streamed a San Diego mosque shooting that left several people dead this spring.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill announced that Sarah Lindsey Santiago of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 31 on three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy for allegedly helping plan the attack being investigated as a hate crime.
Santiago was arrested last week, online records show, and remained jailed without bond on Sept. 1. It was not immediately known whether she had obtained an attorney.
Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, opened fire at the mosque at the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18 and killed three men: security guard Amin Abdullah, caretaker Mansour Kaziha, and worshiper Nadir Awad.
Authorities said Abdullah, 51, opened fire at the gunmen, and Kaziha, 78, and Awad, 57, drew the attention of the shooters back out into the parking lot.
The two suspects were later found dead in a vehicle nearby. They died of what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said. Investigators say they also intended to attack a Jewish temple and a predominantly African American high school, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
Three, including Santiago, allegedly watched attack live streamed
According to a press release from O’Neill’s office, Santiago “with malice and aforethought did aidand abet” Vazquez and Clark in the killings by agreeing and planning before the shooting to: live stream the attacks,disseminate the recording publicly and then release the manifesto authored by the attackers.
Investigators said three people watched the live stream of the attack, including one they later identified as Santiago. He declined to say whether the other two people who were watching had been identified or whether they would also face charges.
O’Neill said a person may be guilty of aiding and abetting if he or she shares the same criminal intent as the perpetrator and fails to render aid during the crime, even if not physically present.
Officials chose to bring charges against Santiago in North Carolina because she can be tried as an adult under state law there. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Court records show she is slated to appear in court on Sept. 21 for a hearing in the case.
Contributing: Reuters
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.