A Monongalia County Commissioner says his community is reeling after this week’s arrests of two University High School students who are accused of killing one of their classmates.
One of the teens, Rachel Shoaf, 16, from Morgantown has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Monongalia County Circuit Court and admitted to stabbing to death Skylar Neese, 16, from Star City.
A second unidentified juvenile is also in custody.
“I think it’s really just shaken everyone up,” said Commissioner Tom Bloom, a counselor at Morgantown High School. He used to be a counselor at University High School where the three teenagers involved were students.
“You may hear about it in some other area, but not in your own backyard.”
Neese was stabbed to death. Her body was found in Pennsylvania in January, more than six months after she snuck out of her family’s home, hopped into a waiting car and never returned.
“It isn’t just the three individuals involved,” Bloom said of the crime’s reach on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
“It affects not only them, but the families. You have the families, the relatives. You have also have the school system too, because many of these students all knew each other. They were in the same classes. They went to different programs together.”
Shoaf is now awaiting sentencing. As part of her plea agreement, Monongalia County’s prosecutors will recommend a 20-year sentence.
Nitro attorney Harvey Peyton said there is a minimum sentence for second-degree murder, which is murder without premeditation, regardless of a judge’s sentence or parole. “Ten years is mandatory,” Peyton said.
Bloom said, If nothing else, this case should serve as a wake-up call for parents.
“I would only hope that all parents would sit down with their kids and talk about what’s going on with their lives,” he said. “It’s really hard to get them to talk to you, but it’s so important you do.”