Teen accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill a 7-year-old, police say

STORM LAKE, Iowa (KTIV/Gray News) - Police say a teenager has been arrested for allegedly trying to hire a hitman to kill a 7-year-old child.

According to the Storm Lake Police Department, at about midnight Friday, they received a report about somebody visiting a parody website called “rentahitman.com” and attempting to get a hitman to murder a child in Storm Lake. The police department says they received this information from the webmaster of rentahitman.com, who said the person trying to get the hitman had provided details about the child, including the child’s name and where they could be located.

Police began an investigation, and by Friday morning, they had a possible suspect, a 17-year-old girl from Storm Lake. That same morning, police said an undercover officer posing as a hitman made contact with the suspect.

Police say the undercover officer confirmed with the suspect that they wanted the 7-year-old killed. The teen also allegedly confirmed the name of the child, their home and address, and at what time the child would be at the house. Following this, at about 3:30 p.m. Friday police took the teen into their custody.

Friday afternoon police say they conducted interviews with the teen and searched their cell phone. Based on evidence gathered throughout the investigation, police said they believe this was a credible threat to the child.

At about 8 p.m. Friday police charged the teen with one count of solicitation to commit murder, which carries a possible 10-year sentence. The 17-year-old was then taken to the Cherokee Youth Emergency Services Center. Their identity is not being released by law enforcement at this time.

Police say the child and their family were not harmed and were unaware of the potential threat.

The investigation into this incident is ongoing.