Mother and grandparents charged with murder of emaciated West Virginia girl

CHARLESTON, West Virginia – A grand jury on Tuesday indicted the mother and two grandparents of a 14-year-old West Virginia girl whose emaciated body was found in their home on murder charges.

Kyneddi Miller's body was found in the Morrisvale community of Boone County in April. Her case sparked a state investigation to determine whether police and child welfare officials could have intervened to prevent her death.

Officers responding to a report of a death at the home found the girl in a bathroom and said her body was “emaciated to the point of being a skeleton,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Boone County District Court.

The complaint said the teen had an eating disorder that caused “overwhelmingly visible discomfort” and physical problems, but her mother had not sought medical care for her for at least four years. Miller was being home-schooled at the time.

Initially, child neglect charges were brought against the girl's mother, Julie Miller, and grandparents Donna and Jerry Stone.

On Tuesday, the grand jury indicted them on charges of murder of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian by failure or refusal to provide necessities, as well as child neglect resulting in death, Boone County Prosecutor Dan Holstein said.

The indictment is scheduled to be read out on October 18. It was initially unclear whether the three defendants have lawyers. Holstein said a copy of the indictment would not be made available to the public until Wednesday.

Brian Abraham, Gov. Jim Justice's chief of staff, said state police were called to visit the girl at home in March 2023 but found no evidence of abuse. A police officer then informally suggested to the local social services department that she might need mental health help.

However, according to Abraham, no further tests were conducted. The officer stated that Miller appeared healthy to him, but she said she did not want to leave her house due to her fear of being around people because of COVID-19.

Justice, a Republican, called Miller's death tragic and said she “fell through the cracks.”

The state's Department of Social Services now requires that potential cases of abuse and neglect be referred to an intake phone number so they can be officially documented. Such referral requirements are now part of training at state police academy events, Abraham said.

State law requires parents of homeschooled children to complete academic evaluations annually, but they do not have to submit them to the state until after third, fifth, eighth and 11th grades. Failure to report evaluations can result in the child being excluded from homeschooling and the district taking truancy action, according to Abraham.

State Senator Patricia Rucker, a Jefferson County Republican and former public school teacher who homeschooled her five children, said blaming the girl's death on homeschooling laws was “wrong and unfair and casts unwarranted suspicion on a population that is overwhelmingly high achieving.”

Rucker said the child welfare system is “overburdened and underfunded” and state leaders “shift the blame and look for scapegoats for homeschooling laws instead of addressing the real causes.”

House Democrats have unsuccessfully pushed for a bill that would suspend or potentially deny a parent's homeschooling request if a teacher has reported suspected child abuse: “Raylee's Law” is named after an 8-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 after her parents took her out of school. Teachers at her elementary school had notified Child Protective Services of the possible abuse.

Republicans control both houses of the legislature.