A 51-year-old West Virginia mother is facing a potential life sentence for her involvement in the severe neglect and starvation of her 14-year-old daughter. Authorities discovered the girl deceased, in a severely malnourished condition, inside their home last year, and determined she had been dead for several days before being found.

Julie Ann Miller made an appearance in Boone County Circuit Court on Friday, where she entered a guilty plea to a charge of causing the death of a child by a parent, guardian, or custodian. This plea is related to the tragic death of her daughter, Kyneddi Miller, as documented in court records.

Initially, Miller faced charges of murder due to failure to provide necessities and child neglect resulting in death, following her arrest on April 18, 2024. She had originally pleaded not guilty, with her trial set to commence on December 2. However, a plea agreement was reached between her defense attorney and prosecutors.

Miller’s mother, Donna Stone, and her stepfather, Jerry Stone, were also arrested in May 2024, facing identical charges as Miller.

After a mandated mental health evaluation, a judge determined in September that Jerry Stone was not competent to stand trial. Meanwhile, Donna Stone is scheduled to face her trial for the murder and neglect charges on February 24, 2026.

Left to right: Jerry Stone and Donna Stone (West Virginia Regional Jail Authority).

As previously reported by Law&Crime, Boone County Sheriff’s Office deputies, alongside emergency medical responders, arrived at the scene on the morning of April 17, 2024. They were responding to a report of a young female in cardiac arrest at a residence on the 400 block of Cameo Road in Morrisvale, West Virginia. The home, located approximately 30 miles southwest of Charleston, was shared by Kyneddi, her mother, and her grandparents.

Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they found the teen in a grisly state inside one of the bathrooms in the home, Charleston ABC and Fox affiliate WCHS reported, citing the criminal complaint.

First responders found the victim lying motionless atop a foam pad on the floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

During an August 2024 court hearing, Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein said the child had been in the same spot where she was found dead for four to five days, local CBS affiliate WOWK reported.

The sheriff’s office reportedly said that the victim’s “appearance was shocking with an obvious emaciated, skeletal state.”

In an interview with police investigators, Donna Stone reportedly confirmed that Kyneddi had not been attending school for about four or five years. Authorities also highlighted that the grandmother told them she believed Kyneddi had only left the Cameo Road home and gone outside about two times in the last four years.

Investigators said Miller began homeschooling her daughter in February 2021, supposedly for medical reasons. An email obtained by WCHS reportedly showed that Miller told officials with the Boone County School District that, because they lived with Kyneddi’s elderly grandparents, they were concerned about the child contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to Donna and Jerry Stone.

Donna Stone further told investigators that Kyneddi had some eating disorder, stating that the juvenile had not been capable of functioning on her own for several days before her death, West Virginia MetroNews reported. The grandmother also said she did not believe Kyneddi had seen a doctor in about four or five years.

Following the plea hearing, Holstein told the Charleston Gazette-Mail it was “satisfying” to have Miller acknowledge her guilt.

“[Miller] didn’t challenge the important facts of the case that she knew that her child needed that kind of care and that she deliberately didn’t get the care for her,” he reportedly told the newspaper. “We’ll see at the sentencing hearing what her attitude remains.”

Miller is currently scheduled to appear in court again for her sentencing hearing on Feb. 25, 2026. She faces 15 years to life in prison and will be mandatorily placed on the Child Abuse and Neglect Registry.