PITTSBURGH -- It was made official in court on Tuesday that a 13-year-old girl originally charged as an adult with killing her father will now be placed in the juvenile system.

It was also revealed that there is proof the Elizabeth Township teenager was sexually assaulted, which attorneys said might have happened the night of the killing.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News is not identifying the girl by name because there have been allegations of abuse connected to her case.

Inside the courtroom, the district attorney and defense attorneys agreed the girl had been living in a home of filth and likely a life of sexual abuse by her father, Matthew Booth, 34.

"The preliminary results from the rape kit indicate some level of sexual contact," said defense attorney Patrick Nightingale. "Certainly that is part of the defense that we'll be presenting."

Nightingale said Booth likely abused the girl in the hours before prosecutors said she picked up a shotgun and shot her father in the head at their home on Pitt Street.

"It's our belief that there was an incident of abuse that took place shortly before the incident and shortly before her father passed out from drinking," Nightingale said.

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors from District Attorney Stephen Zappala's office agreed the teen likely was the victim of abuse and argued alongside the defense that she should be moved to the juvenile system.

"Mr. Zappala feels it is the right place for this case," said Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli. "The judges over there have expertise dealing with children, and they have alternatives that are not available in the adult system."

As the judge granted the request for the girl to be tried as a juvenile, the teen's aunt and uncle sat in court. Both talked for the first time outside the courtroom.

"He's my brother, " said Joshua Booth. "I love him regardless whether the allegations are true or not. He's still family."

Joshua Booth admits he and his wife hadn't seen Matthew Booth or their teenage niece in years, but they said if they had known how they were living, they would have been there for her like they were when, according to the Booths and prosecutors, she was sexually abused years ago in Westmoreland County.

"She had been in counseling and on medication, which apparently she had stopped taking for whatever reason and stopped going to counseling," said the girl's aunt, Kim Booth.

While the girl begins to move through the juvenile system, at this point she remains at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

On Thursday, court psychiatrist Christine Martone said right now, what the girl really needs is treatment and therapy.

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