3 girls in Mass. bullying case plead not guilty

HADLEY, Mass. — Lawyers for three teenage girls charged in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide have entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.

Sixteen-year-olds Ashley Longe, Sharon Chanon Velazquez and Flannery Mullins were arraigned today in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley on charges of civil rights and stalking. They did not appear in court.

They also were ordered to have no contact with the family of Phoebe Prince.

Prince was a South Hadley High School freshman who hanged herself in January after what prosecutors called an “unrelenting” three-month bullying campaign by six teenagers. Prosecutors say Prince was targeted after she briefly dated a popular boy.

A lawyer for Mullins said “this is the first step in a long process.” Lawyers for the other two had no immediate comment.

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