A West Virginia judge sentenced 51-year-old Julie Miller to 15 years to life in prison for the 2024 death of her 14-year-old daughter, Kyneddi Miller, due to starvation and neglect. The girl had been confined to the family home for years and was found emaciated after being dead for several days. Miller pleaded guilty to causing the death of a child through neglect.
On February 25, Boone County Circuit Judge Stacy Nowicki-Eldridge imposed the maximum sentence on Julie Miller following her November guilty plea to one count of death of a child caused by a parent, guardian, or custodian. Miller, 51, will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years but must then complete 50 years of supervised release.
The case stems from events on April 17, 2024, when Boone County Sheriff's Office deputies and emergency personnel responded to a report of a juvenile in cardiac arrest at a residence in the 400 block of Cameo Road in Morrisvale, about 30 miles southwest of Charleston. They discovered Kyneddi motionless on a foam pad in a bathroom, in an emaciated and skeletal state. Prosecutors stated she had remained in that spot for four to five days before being found and pronounced dead at the scene.
During the sentencing, Judge Nowicki-Eldridge remarked, "This child literally starved to death. No child should ever have to go through that." Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein described the case as unprecedented in his experience, saying, "As a father with my own children, and now grandchildren, I cannot imagine how someone gets to the point that you allow your child to get like that, so emaciated, and you don't even bother to get help. You just let them die."
Investigators learned Kyneddi had not attended school for four to five years and had left the home only about two times in that period. Miller began homeschooling her in February 2021, citing concerns over COVID-19 transmission to the girl's elderly grandparents, Jerry and Donna Stone, who also lived there. Donna Stone told police Kyneddi had an eating disorder, could not function independently, and had not seen a doctor in four to five years.
The grandparents face felony neglect charges. Jerry Stone was deemed incompetent to stand trial, while Donna Stone's trial is set for March 17. Miller expressed in court that she "loved every second" she spent with her daughter.