MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A second teenage girl has been charged as an adult in the 2012 murder of teen Skylar Neese.
Shelia Eddy, 17, was elevated to adult status Wednesday in Monongalia County Circuit Court by Judge Russell Clawges.
Earlier this year, 17-year-old Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Neese’s death. According to court documents, Shoaf admitted to stabbing Neese to death the night the Monongalia County girl disappeared.
Eddy was also charged in connection with Neese’s murder, but officials did not release her name until today because she is a juvenile. She could be indicted soon.
Monongalia County Prosecutor Marsha Ashdown released a brief statement following the hearing: “The juvenile matters pending against Shelia Eddy were transferred to the adult jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of Monongalia County. All further proceedings will take place in the criminal court jurisdiction.”
Neese, Shoaf and Eddy were all classmates at University High School in Morgantown. Dave Neese, the victim’s father, has said he thought the two suspects were Skylar’s best friends. Prosecutors have not publicly discussed a motive in the slaying.
The prosecution will recommend a 20-year sentence for Shoaf, while the defense will request she be sentenced as a juvenile, which would likely mean a lighter penalty. Her plea agreement requires her to “offer truthful and forthright testimony in any subsequent proceeding deemed necessary.”
Skylar Neese disappeared July 6, 2012, when prosecutors said she snuck out of her bedroom window to meet with Shoaf and Eddy.
Monongalia County Prosecutor Marcia Ashdown said Shoaf and Eddy drove Neese to Greene County, Pa., where they stabbed her to death and tried to bury her body.
Six months passed before Shoaf finally came forward and talked to police about her involvement in the murder. Neese’s decomposed body was found in a ditch about 20 miles west of Morgantown.