A West Virginia woman was sentenced to the maximum penalty of life in prison Wednesday for the 2024 starvation death of her teenage daughter, a case that has horrified the state and cast a grim light on parental neglect.
Julie Miller, 49, appeared before Boone County Circuit Judge Stacy Nowicki-Eldridge on February 25, months after pleading guilty to the death of a child by a parent by child abuse. Under the terms of the sentence, Miller will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years. Should she ever be released, she faces a mandatory 50 years of supervised release.
A “Skeletal” Discovery
The investigation began on April 17, 2024, when emergency responders were called to a home in Boone County. There, they discovered 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller in what investigators described as an “emaciated to a skeletal state” on a bathroom floor.
According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, the teenager suffered cardiac arrest and passed away shortly after the discovery. A criminal complaint revealed the harrowing extent of the neglect:
- Weight: Kyneddi weighed only 58 pounds at the time of her death.
- Medical Neglect: Despite suffering from an eating disorder, Kyneddi had not received medical care in at least four years.
- Physical Decline: Authorities stated the teen had been unable to function on her own for nearly five days prior to her death and had likely not eaten for months.
“This child literally starved to death,” Judge Nowicki-Eldridge said during the emotional sentencing. “No child should ever have to go through that.”
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Prosecution Details “Daily” Suffering
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein provided a chilling account of Kyneddi’s final days, testifying that the 14-year-old spent her last moments alone on a bathroom floor. Holstein pushed back against any notion of a sudden accident, characterizing the death as a prolonged period of torture.
“Her life was taken just from sheer—I don’t know if it was selfishness or where it comes from—but for someone to kill their own daughter by means of not just a single act, but a daily letting them waste away into nothing,” Holstein told the court. He added that the teenager must have lived in “agony” while “suffering alone.”
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Courtroom Testimony and Impact
During the hearing, Julie Miller addressed the court through tears, claiming she “loved” her daughter and that the 14-year-old was her “world.” However, the sentiment was overshadowed by a powerful victim impact statement from Kyneddi’s older sister.
“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,” the sister said. “It’ll never come back.”
Co-Defendants and Next Steps
The legal fallout from Kyneddi Miller’s death extends beyond her mother. The teen’s grandparents, Jerry and Donna Stone, were also charged for failing to provide necessary food and medical care.
| Defendant | Legal Status |
| Julie Miller | Sentenced to Life (Parole eligibility after 15 years) |
| Jerry Stone | Found incompetent to stand trial (August 2024) |
| Donna Stone | Trial delayed; scheduled for next month |
The case continues to draw scrutiny toward West Virginia’s child welfare and homeschooling oversight, as Kyneddi had reportedly been out of the public school system for years. Donna Stone’s trial next month is expected to provide further details into the household environment that led to this tragedy.
