MARIETTA -- The father of one of the Cobb County girls accused of baking a cake that was laced with toxic ingredients appeared before a national audience Thursday, saying his daughter made an error in judgement but did not intend to harm her classmates.

Identified only by his first name of Alan, the father said his daughter is apologetic about the incident.

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"It was a horrible prank," he said during Thursday morning's edition of Good Morning America, which aired on ABC and WSB-TV/Channel 2. "She certainly didn't intend to kill anybody. It was just horrible judgement."

Both 13-year-old girls remained Thursday at the Cobb County juvenile detention center in connection with the incident, which occurred Tuesday at East Cobb Middle School.

Authorities declined to identify the seventh grade girls, one of whom is charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault, one count of terroristic acts and one count of interference. The second girl has been charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault.

Alan said his daughter has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that can include impaired judgement, poor impulse control and other developmental problems.

He said the call about the cake was not the first call he has received from the school about his daughter's behavior. And yet, he maintained that his daughter recognizes that she went too far.

"She is very remorseful for what happened and is ready to take responsibility for what she did," he said.

The parents of the other girl has declined reporters' requests for interview and did not appear on the ABC morning show.

Girls in Court

The girls appeared in court Wednesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing.

Juvenile Court Judge Steve Shuster 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.

At that hearing, the girls and their parents will learn if they will remain in jail or whether the charges will be reduced.

Cobb District Attorney Pat Head, who also appeared on "Good Morning America," appeared to make no apologies for the severity of the charges that have been filed against the girls.

He said the charges that ultimately will be filed against the girls will largely be based on what the tests show were in the cake.

"It's going to depend on how much we find out from the analysis of the cake itself and see what was actually put into it," Head said. "Whatever it was was certainly toxic enough to make 12 children sick in just a little over an hour's time."

Police said at least 12 students who ate some of the cake Tuesday were rushed for medical treatment to WellStar Kennestone Hospital. The students were treated and released.

Questions Remain Over Motive

Police said they are baffled as to why the girls would bring a tainted cake to school.

"At this point we don't have any motive," said Cpl. Dana Pierce, a police spokesman. "That's part of the mystery."

The students who ate the cake suffered from stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea, authorities said. Teachers who were offered some of the food declined to eat it, according to reports.

Lawyers for the girls said the cake was a prank, and that they had no intention to harm anyone.

Detective Wayne Delk testified at Wednesday's hearing that one of the girls had told several children that there was bleach in the cake.

"There was some hysteria, from what I understand," Delk said. Not long afterward, some of the students started vomiting.

On Thursday, investigators said they don't know definitively what is in the cake although investigators had said Wednesday that they believe the cake was laced with glue and bleach when it was cooked.

Tests at a lab to determine the ingredients were pending, officials said Thursday.

Jay Dillon, a spokesman for Cobb schools told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that the girls apparently did not target anyone in particular when they offered it to classmates.

"They were offering the cake to anyone who would take it," he told the newspaper.

In addition to the charges, Dillon said the girls will be suspended and could be expelled after the investigation is completed.

"We don't understand why they would have done something like this," Dillon said. "It's certainly something more serious than a prank."

wsbtv.com Staff Writer Alfred Charles and Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Regan contributed to this report.