Boone County mother charged in 14-year-old daughter's death after her emaciated body found

BOONE COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — A mother in Boone County has been charged with child neglect causing death after her daughter was found "emaciated to a skeletal state," Wednesday morning, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.

Julie Anne Stone Miller, 49, of Morrisvale, was arrested and booked into the Southwestern Regional Jail Wednesday night, according to Boone County Sheriff Chad Barker.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Boone County Magistrate Court, deputies responded to a death call in the 400 block of Cameo Road in Morrisvale. Deputies said when they arrived at the home, the girl, identified by her initials K.M., was on a bathroom floor and on a foam pad.

"K.M.'s body was emaciated to a skeletal state," Chief Deputy Mark Abbott wrote in the court document.

Abbott said the girl's grandmother was interviewed as part of the investigation. The grandmother told deputies that the girl had not attended school since late 2019 or early 2020 and had only been outside the house possibly two times in the last four years.

The complaint also noted that she had an eating disorder for several years and her "appearance was shocking with an obvious emaciated, skeletal state."

The child's grandmother also told deputies that K.M. had not been able to function on her own for four to five days due to her physical state and had not been eating for months, according to the complaint.

It's also alleged her health had been deteriorating for months or even years.

"With the overwhelmingly visible conditions of K.M.'s body and the clear and distinct physical problems, Miller failed to obtain any medical treatment for K.M. for at least the last four years," Abbott wrote. "It is believed this neglect caused the death of K.M., a 14-year-old child."

Abbott told Eyewitness News that additional arrests in the case are possible as the investigation continues. The teen's body was sent to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy that was to be conducted Thursday.

Magistrate Neil Byrnside set Miller's bond at $250,000 cash only.