A mother from West Virginia has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the tragic starvation death of her 14-year-old daughter. The case, which has shocked the local community, concluded with the sentencing of Julie Miller, who broke down in tears as the judge delivered her fate on Wednesday.
In April 2024, investigators discovered the lifeless body of Kyneddi Miller in the family’s Boone County residence. The young girl was found in a severely emaciated state, reduced to a skeletal form, lying on the bathroom floor. The horrifying details of the case have drawn significant attention and outrage.
Julie Miller had entered a guilty plea in November, admitting to the charge of causing the death of a child by abuse. As part of her sentence, she will become eligible for parole after serving 15 years. However, if released, she will remain under 50 years of supervised monitoring. Despite the grim circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death, Miller appeared in court visibly well-nourished, contrasting starkly with the condition in which Kyneddi was found.
The sentencing was marked by a stern address from Boone County Circuit Judge Stacy Nowicki-Eldridge. “This child literally starved to death,” the judge declared, emphasizing the gravity of the crime. “No child should ever have to go through that.”
Further harrowing details emerged during an August 2024 court hearing, where Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein revealed that Kyneddi had been lying in the same spot for four to five days before authorities discovered her lifeless body. This chilling revelation underscored the severity of neglect that led to her untimely death.
During an August 2024 court hearing, Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein revealed that Kyneddi had been lying in the same spot for between four and five days before she was found dead.
Holstein said the teen stood 5ft 3in and weighed just 58 pounds when she died. Her BMI was 7.1, far below the healthy range of between 18.5 and 24.9.
Kyneddi was so malnourished that she could no longer move on her own, authorities said, and she had been deteriorating for months before collapsing.
Julie Miller (pictured) has been sentenced to up to life in prison for the horrific starvation death of her 14-year-old daughter, Kyneddi Miller, who was found emaciated at their home
Miller sobbed in court as she was sentenced on Wednesday for the April 2024 death
Kyneddi Miller, 14, was found ’emaciated’ to the point of being ‘skeletal’ and lying on the bathroom floor of the family’s Boone County home, investigators said
Her grandmother called 911 on April 17, 2024, reporting the teen was in cardiac arrest. First responders found her dead on the bathroom floor.
Holstein said the girl had an undiagnosed eating disorder and had made comments in the final 48 hours of her life that she wanted to die, but emphasized that the fatal neglect was ongoing and preventable.
‘Her life was taken just from sheer – I don’t know if it was selfishness or where it comes from,’ he said. ‘For someone to kill their own daughter by means of not just a single act but a daily letting them waste away into nothing.’
Speaking tearfully before her sentencing, Miller insisted she loved her daughter.
‘I miss her every second of every day,’ she said. ‘She was my world and was the best little girl since day one.’
Kyneddi’s older sister also addressed the court.
‘There are no words that can properly convey to you that a piece of sunlight was ripped out of the Earth the day that she died,’ she said. ‘It’ll never come back.’
Court documents allege Miller and her parents, Jerry and Donna Stone, who lived in the home, failed to provide Kyneddi with food or medical care for months.
The child’s grandfather Jerry Stone (pictured) was deemed unfit to stand trial
The teen’s grandmother Donna Stone is scheduled to appear in court next month
Jerry Stone was deemed unfit to stand trial due to his declining cognitive state.
Donna Stone is scheduled to go on trial next month on one count of child neglect.
The teenager’s death served as a turning point in West Virginia, triggering renewed scrutiny of the state’s troubled child welfare system.
Documents obtained by Eyewitness News prompted a state investigation into whether law enforcement and child protective services could have intervened.
In June 2024, Brian Abraham, then chief of staff to Republican Governor Jim Justice, said state police conducted a welfare check on Kyneddi in March 2023 but found no immediate signs of abuse.
A trooper informally suggested to a local human services office that the girl might benefit from mental health services.
According to Abraham, no follow-up visits were ever carried out. The trooper reported that Kyneddi appeared healthy, but she struggled with social anxiety after the coronavirus pandemic and did not want to leave home.
Kyneddi last attended public school in 2021 and was being homeschooled when she died.
Kyneddi had an undiagnosed eating disorder and had made comments in the final 48 hours of her life that she wanted to die, according to prosecuters
Miller pleaded guilty in November to death of a child by a parent by child abuse
State law has required parents of homeschooled children to conduct yearly academic assessments, but they only have to submit them after the third, fifth, eighth and 11th grades.
Local media reported that Miller failed to submit the required assessments, which could have triggered a truancy review or removal from the homeschool program.
A federal audit, which was launched following Kyneddi’s death and released in November, found that the state failed to complete 91 percent of required investigative steps in child abuse and neglect cases over a one-year period.
The death also triggered a state review into missed opportunities by police and child protective services.
Officials have since required all potential abuse or neglect reports to be routed through a centralized intake phone line so they are formally documented.
West Virginia’s Department of Human Services, now led by Secretary Alex Mayer under Governor Patrick Morrisey’s administration, has pledged to overhaul the system and address the failures exposed by the case.
