<p>Two 13-year-old middle school girls were held on assault charges Wednesday after being accused of serving poisoned cake to about a dozen students who became ill and went to a hospital.</p><p>There was bleach and other substances in the cornbread cake, which the girls had offered to students at East Cobb Middle School on Tuesday, Cobb County Police spokesman Dana Pierce said.</p><p>Eleven students, mostly seventh graders, were treated at a hospital and released, Cobb County School District spokesman Jay Dillon said.</p><p>The seventh-grade girls appeared Wednesday before Juvenile Court Judge Steve Shuster, who ordered that the 13-year-olds be held in the juvenile detention center until a hearing on Friday at which prosecutors must formally charge them. Schuster also ordered psychiatric evaluations of both girls.</p><p>Lawyers for the girls said the cake was a prank, and that they had no intention to harm anyone.</p><p>Detective Wayne Delk testified at the hearing that one of the girls had told several children that there was bleach in the cake.</p><p>"There was some hysteria, from what I understand," Delk said. Not long afterward, some of the students started vomiting.</p><p>The county Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit said one of the teens was charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit murder, one count of terroristic acts and one count of interference with government property. The other girl was charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with the intent to commit murder.</p><p>Tests at a private lab showed the icing in the cake contained an expired prescription narcotic, bleach, clay and tabasco sauce.</p><p>"It appears to be something that they just made at home and brought to school to share with classmates," schools spokesman Dillon said.</p><p>"They took it into the cafeteria at lunch time and began passing it out to students, just whoever would take a piece," Dillon said. "Several students ate it. Eleven students were transported to the hospital."</p><p>In addition to the charges, Dillon said the girls will be suspended and could be expelled after the investigation is completed.</p><p>"We don't understand why they would have done something like this," Dillon said. "It's certainly something more serious than a prank."</p>
