Morgan Geyser’s long-anticipated release from state custody has been postponed after community opposition derailed plans to place her in a Sun Prairie residential facility.

Geyser, now 22, has been held at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute since 2017, when she was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for the 2014 stabbing of her classmate, Payton Leutner, in Waukesha. She and another friend, both then 12, carried out the attack in an attempt to please the fictional horror character “Slenderman.” Leutner survived.

A judge granted Geyser conditional release in January 2025, but the process has been complicated by the challenge of finding a suitable placement that satisfies court requirements and avoids proximity to the victim. The latest plan — approved by a judge on July 31 — identified a Sun Prairie facility as the location where Geyser would live under GPS monitoring, home confinement, psychiatric care, and ongoing social work oversight.

However, Sun Prairie’s city attorney formally objected to the placement, triggering a hearing that revealed her intended location. The news quickly spread, prompting public backlash and ultimately leading the facility to withdraw.

Geyser’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, told Wisconsin’s Afternoon News that the opposition was driven more by the case’s notoriety than by an assessment of the actual safety risk. “One of the problems with high-profile cases is people draw conclusions that aren’t grounded in reality,” he said. “They think this is a serial killer coming into their community, and it’s not.”

Cotton stressed that his client has complied fully with her treatment plan and shown no signs of violent behavior since her release was first approved. “She’s weathered the storm,” he said. “She continues to go to treatment. There’s really been no problem.”

For now, Geyser will remain at the secure Winnebago facility for at least another month or two while the Department of Health Services searches for an alternative placement.

Some residents in Sun Prairie say their objections are rooted in the nature of the original crime. “The community… is extremely concerned because she was a kid when she planned a premeditated, cold calculated murder,” said Gabrielle Alturk, who has lived in the city for eight years with her son.

Under her conditional release terms, any future change in Geyser’s residential placement will require court approval. She will also be required to wear a GPS monitoring device and comply with strict medication oversight.

Until a new plan is approved, her release — already delayed once due to location concerns — remains on hold.