Jerry Stone and Donna Stone (West Virginia Regional Jail Authority).
The West Virginia grandparents of a 14-year-old girl who died last month have been arrested after authorities said the child was found to be “emaciated” and in a “skeletal state.”
Jerry Stone, 75, and Donna Stone, 76, were taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count each of felony child neglect by a parent, guardian, or custodian resulting in death, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The victim has been identified by family members as Kyneddi Miller, according to a report from Huntington, West Virginia NBC affiliate WSAZ. Kyneddi Miller’s mother, Julie Anne Miller, was arrested last month and similarly charged with one count of child neglect in connection with her daughter’s grisly death. She is currently being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail on bond of $250,000.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Charleston, West Virginia ABC and Fox affiliate WCHS, deputies with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and emergency medical personnel on the morning of April 17, responded to a call about a juvenile female in cardiac arrest at a home located in the 400 block of Cameo Road in Morrisvale, West Virginia. Morrisvale is about 30 miles southwest of Charleston, West Virginia.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they found the teen inside of a bathroom in the home where she lived with her mother and grandparents, per WCHS. She was said to be lying unconscious on a foam pad on the floor.
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 Miller had not been attending school for about four or five years. Authorities also highlighted that the grandmother told them she believed Kyneddi Miller had only left the Cameo Road home and went outside about two times in the last four years.
Documents obtained by WCHS through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Julie Miller began home schooling her daughter in February 2021. An email obtained by the station reportedly showed that Julie Miller told officials with the Boone County School District that because they lived with Kyneddi Miller’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 Miller had some kind of eating disorder, stating that the juvenile had not been capable of functioning on her own for several days prior to her death, MetroNews reported. She reportedly added that she did not believe Kyneddi Miller had seen a doctor in about four or five years.
Donna and Jerry Stone are both being held at the Southwestern Regional Jail on bonds of $25,000 each, records show.
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