MADISON, W.Va. — The criminal trial has begun for a Boone County woman charged in the starvation death of her 14-year-old granddaughter two years ago.
A 12-member jury, comprised of 10 women and two men, heard opening statements Wednesday in Boone County Circuit Court in the case of Donna Stone. She faces two charges, murder by a parent, guardian or custodian by refusal or failure to provide necessities and child neglect resulting in death, in connection to Kyneddi Miller’s death on April 17, 2024.
Kyneddi lived in the Morrisvale home with her mother, Julie Miller, along with Donna Stone and her husband, Jerry. Julie Miller has pleaded guilty to child abuse by a parent causing death. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Jerry Stone was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Boone County Prosecutor Dan Holstein said the harrowing case dates back much longer than the April morning in which Kyneddi died. He said that the child and her mother lived with the Stones for nine-to-ten years. During his opening remarks, Holstein told the jury that an autopsy on Kyneddi’s body following her death confirmed that her health deteriorated over a period of time and nothing was done about it.
“Kyneddi, you will hear, died of severe malnutrition,” Holstein said. “The doctor will tell you, the fancy word is, ‘protein-calorie malnutrition.’ He will tell you that this had been coming on for, just based on his view of her body, months to years. This was not an overnight thing.”
Holstein called Donna Stone a “caretaker,” just the same as the child’s mother, Julie Miller. Holstein said that Kyneddi’s body was “emaciated,” with very thin arms and legs. He added that her body looked like something out of the movie “Alien.”
“It’s almost as if you took a skeleton and draped Saran wrap over it,” Holstein said. “The exterior, the way that her skin lay overtop of each of her bones, front and back, you could see the gaps between the ribs where her skin lay. Her eyes were sunken in and just hollow looking. Her cheeks were sunken in.”
Holstein said that Kyneddi’s hair had turned hard, looking like a beehive. He said it was clear to the naked eye, and certainly those who took care of her such as Donna Stone, that this happened over months, not days.
The defense attorney representing Donna Stone, Tim Gibson, stated that what happened to Kyneddi was a “tragedy.” He said that the child’s death left behind a grandmother, and a grieving family. Gibson emphasized that, just because Kyneddi died, does not mean that Donna Stone committed a crime.
“A tragedy does not equal criminality,” Gibson said. “The fact that we know how this story ends does not mean we know all of the scenes in this story that led to the final outcome.”
Gibson declared that the state won’t be able to meet all the requirements in the indictment.
“I want you to pay careful attention to two specific elements that were read to you in that indictment,” Gibson said. “Malicious and intentional. Can they (the state) prove that this crime was done maliciously and intentionally?”
Holstein said that Kyneddi’s death was not because of drugs or alcohol. He said it was a young girl who was a “recluse” until her death. Holstein said that Kyneddi hadn’t left the house in years, save for brief times on the back porch. People outside the home didn’t ever see Kyneddi, Holstein said, not even outside family or friends.
According to Holstein, other members of the families were “denied access” to the child. He said that Kyneddi wasn’t permitted to go to holiday and other gatherings, bailed out by “bizarre” excuses made by Donna Stone and others. Additionally, an argument that there was a scarcity of food wouldn’t hold merit, Holstein said.
“They were all well-fed,” Holstein said. “There was plenty of food in the house. This is not a case where there was a lack of food, there was plenty of food in the house. Kyneddi shared a bed over those years with her grandmother, up until about five-to-six days before her death, when she was found on the bathroom floor.”
Holstein said that Kyneddi’s body was found on a foam pad in the bathroom. He said that’s where she had been sleeping in her final days, after leaving the bed with her grandmother.
Holstein said that this tragedy unfolded over multiple months. In Kyneddi’s final days, the family was considering taking her to the hospital, according to the Boone County Prosecutor. However, the family decided against it, he said. He said the family said it was because Kyneddi had reportedly been up, active, and eating. The next day, Holstein said, they found Kyneddi’s dead body.
During the 911 call that Donna Stone made to report Kyneddi’s death, Holstein said, the grandmother made mention of Kyneddi having anorexia. He said that Stone claimed to emergency responders that the family had “just” found out of Kyneddi’s eating disorder five-or-six days earlier.
Holstein expressed doubt that, since Donna and Kyneddi shared a bed for several years, Donna would have been unaware of Kyneddi’s alarmingly declining health.
The backstory of Kyneddi Miller’s health is truly tragic, Holstein said. It dates back to education shifts during the COVID-19 shutdown. Holstein said that the young child was a fifth grader during the initial lockdown, attending class virtually in 2020 and again in 2021. He said that Julie Miller filed a notice with the state that Kyneddi would be homeschooled in the Spring of 2021.
Kyneddi never went to school again, Holstein said.
Because of existing state laws, education officials have “no authority” to go into homes and check on kids, he added. Additionally, he said, parents don’t have to turn in anything.
Holstein said that a local education official learned that Kyneddi had developed an “irrational fear of COVID” that persisted even three years after the pandemic.
Gibson countered that Donna Stone wasn’t responsible for pulling Kyneddi out of school. He pointed the finger at Julie Miller for medical and educational decisions.
“Those decisions were not Donna Stone’s to make,” Gibson said. “Those decisions were the mother’s decisions, Julie Miller. Those major decisions by Julie Miller led to the tragedy that resulted in Kyneddi’s death. Not the decisions made by Donna Stone.”
Boone County Sheriff Chad Barker and Captain Kevin McCarty both provided testimony about the law enforcement response on April 17 two years ago.
Barker said that when he arrived at the home, Donna and Jerry Stone were in the living room. He testified that Julie Miller was “very upset” as he moved through the house. Following a review of the home, Barker said that he contacted Child Protective Services to see if there were any open local cases. Along with that, he asked whether this was the first time the Morrisvale home had reported an emergency.
“I called to check and see if there were any other medical calls from the home,” Barker said. “Did anybody call 911 at any point for this child other than that morning?”
“Could you find any record of any medical calls to the residence?” Holstein asked him.
“There were no medical calls for her from that home prior to that morning,” Barker affirmed.
Gibson said that the defense expects a not guilty verdict to be reached. While it was a tragedy, he said, nobody knows that more than Donna Stone.
“You’re going to learn that there were poor decisions made, but they weren’t made intentionally and with a malicious heart,” Gibson said.
Holstein pledged to find justice for the late teenage girl. He told the jury that the evidence is clear in the case.
“We will prove to you that what started out as neglect eventually became, when her condition was so obvious that ‘this child is going to die in a matter of days — she’s just going to die — if we don’t do anything,'” Holstein said. “We will prove to you that there was a willing choice to refuse to get that care. A failure and refusal to get that care.”
The trial resumes on Thursday.