CROWN POINT | The parents of the 15-year-old Hobart girl accused of severely beating a high school classmate said they're also seeking answers as to what happened and why.

Both Wendy Bullock and Michael McCammon said Tuesday their daughter, Brittney McCammon, is a typical teen who had never been in any major trouble prior to the June 4 incident in which she is accused of beating 16-year-old Jamie Rodriguez, of Hobart, outside a downtown restaurant.

"No trouble at all. ... I never thought she'd do something like this," Michael McCammon said.

"That's not Brittney," added Wendy Bullock.

Both also were quick to pass along their hopes for the continued improvements in the recovery of Rodriguez, whose initial injuries were so severe she had to be airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

"We want her to get better," Michael McCammon said.

The parents came to Lake County Juvenile Court for the initial hearing for their daughter before Lake Juvenile Court Magistrate Glenn Commons.

Commons set a July 15 pretrial hearing for Brittney McCammon and ordered an investigation by the probation department on whether or not she should be waived to adult court given what he termed the nature of the offense.

The judge assigned public defender Robert Schwerd to the teen's case when her parents told him they couldn't afford the expense of hiring their own attorney.

Charges against McCammon were upgraded last week from battery with serious bodily injury to attempted murder and felony battery.

The prosecutor's office also is asking that the teen be waived to adult court, Lake County prosecutor's office spokeswoman Diane Poulton said.

Commons ordered McCammon, who already has received an initial psychological evaluation, to also receive a neurological evaluation.

She will remain in the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center until her next hearing, Commons said.

Her parents say their daughter, who has told them she is sorry for what happened, is shouldering all the blame for the fight despite their belief that there were more teens involved.

"Someone talked her into it," Michael McCammon said.

Rodriguez, who was released from the hospital after a few days, still faces ongoing physical therapy and psychiatric sessions as well as facial surgery to correct a broken nose and severely blocked nasal cavity, said her father, Primo Rodriguez.