The case of four elementary school students accused of trying to poison a teacher took two dramatic turns Monday, when one agreed to plead guilty and testify, and charges against a second girl were dropped.

        The girls, ages 11 to 13 in May when the incident occurred at Oyler Elementary in Lower Price Hill, were charged with contamination of a substance for human consumption, obstruction and tampering. They are not being identified because of their age.

        The teacher did not drink from the spiked water bottle.

        “(One of the girls) got in trouble, and asked me if I wanted to help her put something in a teacher's drink,” one girl testified in Hamilton County Juvenile Court.

        Hours earlier, she pleaded guilty to the most serious charge, first-degree felony contamination. The other two charges were dropped. She has not been sentenced, but the maximum she could face is incarceration until she is 21.

        As spectators leaned forward to hear her speak in a low monotone, the girl testified that she brought from home an industrial cleaner called Scram.

        Hamilton County coroner's office toxicologist John Walker testified that Scram contains the same properties as battery acid.

        If consumed straight, it could be fatal and “it would totally destroy the esophagus,” Mr. Walker said.

        It was unclear how much it had been diluted, but Magistrate Thomas Flynn noted that the degree of threat to the teacher's health was irrelevant to the charge.

        The teacher, Nancy Wyenandt, testified last week that she did not drink the water because when she picked it up from her desk, the bottle was extremely hot. She put it in the classroom refrigerator, but one or more of the girls retrieved it the following day and threw it away.

        After the girl finished testifying for the prosecution, defense attorney Christopher Buchert successfully argued that nothing the girl — or anyone else — said implicated his client.

        Magistrate Flynn dismissed the charges against that girl, leaving two defendants where the previous day of testimony there had been four.

        The trial continues Nov. 14.

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