The Slatest

Community Mourns 16-Year-Old Allegedly Stabbed Over Prom Rejection

Maren Sanchez memorial
Students mourn in front of Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Connecticut

Photo by Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters

Maren Sanchez was excited about  the Jonathan Law High School junior prom that was supposed to be held Friday night. She had helped plan the big dance, posted a preview of her dress on Facebook, and got her nails done. On the day of the dance that Sanchez was going to attend with a new boyfriend though, she was stabbed to death in the hallway of her high school, allegedly for turning down the suspect’s prom invite, reports the Associated Press. Instead of attending the dance, students gathered for a candlelight vigil, some wearing their prom dresses and tuxedos, notes the New York Daily News.

Police charged a 16-year-old classmate with murder as a juvenile offender, although he could eventually be charged as an adult. The police did not release the name of the suspect because he’s a minor, but friends have identified him as Chris Plaskon. He is now being held in a medical facility where he is undergoing psychiatric evaluation, reports the New York Times.

The alleged assailant, who was described by several classmates as the “class clown,” according to the New York Post, was reportedly friends with Sanchez, whom everyone describes as popular. The assailant stabbed Sanchez multiple times using a kitchen knife in the face and chest near a stairwell. Sanchez fought back but her attacker threw her down the stairs. Students who knew the supposed attacker say there were no signs that he could become violent, reports the Hartford Courant.

Students tweeted a photograph from the Friday night vigil in which they name Sanchez “Jonathan Law’s Prom Queen of 2014.”