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SOUDERTON, Pa. >> The mother of a 9-year-old girl allegedly raped and killed by a neighbor at her suburban Philadelphia apartment complex says police didn’t adequately respond to a previous incident involving her daughter and the suspect.
Heather Gebhard says police “blew (her) off” three weeks ago after she says her daughter, Skyler Kauffman, and another girl were lured into the Souderton apartment of 24-year-old James Lee Troutman.
Kauffman disappeared Monday evening and her body was discovered wrapped in a blood-soaked comforter and stuffed in a trash bin near the complex. Police say Troutman raped and choked the girl and banged her head on the floor of the apartment building’s basement.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman on Tuesday defended the decision not to file charges against Troutman in last month’s incident.
