Shelia Eddy

Case overview

Shelia Eddy murdered her one-time best friend, Skylar Neese, after Neese disappeared from her home in Star City, West Virginia around midnight on July 6, 2012. Neese’s remains were found on January 16, 2013 in Wayne Township, Pennsylvania.

Background

Skylar Neese was sixteen-year-old and was an honor student at University High School in Morgantown, West Virginia. Neese knew Eddy and Rachel Shoaf from childhood and school. Neese’s father, David Neese (“Dave” Neese), described Eddy as being like another daughter in his home and said Eddy helped with the search after Skylar was reported missing. Neese’s mother said, “They were inseparable. Every weekend, either Skylar was at her house, or she was at our house,” and that Shelia helped go door-to-door during the search. Neese’s father said that during the search they comforted Sheila as they would “a sibling,” saying they would get her home. Neese’s father said the entire time she was “God I hope so, I miss her so much.”

The offence

On the night of July 6, 2012, Neese disappeared from her ground-floor bedroom after leaving through her bedroom window in Star City. Prosecutors said Eddy and Shoaf lured Neese from her ground-floor bedroom, drove her to a secluded spot near the unincorporated West Virginia community of Macdale, and stabbed her to death at an agreed-upon moment. Prosecutors said the girls covered the body of the University High honors student with branches when they couldn’t bury her and that it lay in a wooded area across the Pennsylvania border for months.

A major break in the case occurred when Rachel Shoaf admitted plotting with fellow teenager Shelia Eddy to kill Neese, and Shoaf led investigators to Neese’s body. Shoaf said the girls killed Neese because “They didn't want to be friends with her anymore”. Prosecutors later said Eddy and Shoaf were worried Neese would “divulge their secrets,” and that Eddy and Shoaf were “hatched a plan to pick up Skylar Neese by car after she returned home from work the night of July 5, 2012, arming themselves with kitchen knives concealed in their clothes.” Prosecutors said they also brought a shovel and clean clothes and that Neese’s body was not buried because Eddy and Shoaf “couldn't dig into the hard earth at that time.”

Investigation

For months, police investigated several unproductive leads in Neese’s disappearance. Neese was initially considered to be a runaway by law enforcement authorities, and an Amber Alert was not immediately issued.

An early tip indicated that Neese had been seen in North Carolina, but the Star City Police Department determined that the individual spotted was not Neese. Neese’s parents posted fliers about their missing daughter in the Monongalia County region. Police determined that the unknown sedan in which Skylar Neese was last seen belonged to one of her friends and interviewed her.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation joined the search for Skylar Neese on September 10, 2012, and began interviewing Neese’s school friends. The friend Shelia Eddy admitted picking up Neese but stated that she had dropped her off an hour later.

Other students overheard conversations between Shoaf and Eddy about the murder plot but failed to report it, thinking they were joking. Investigators struggled to comprehend a motive beyond Shoaf’s statement that she and Eddy “didn't want to be friends with her anymore.” Monongalia County Prosecutor Marcia Ashdown said Friday that Eddy and Skylar Neese had been friends since grade school and went to the beach together in the weeks before the slaying, and that Eddy and Shoaf began to distance themselves from Neese out of fear that their own friendship would dissolve. Ashdown said: “If that were to happen, Shelia and Rachel worried that Skylar would divulge their secrets, the kinds of secrets perhaps that girls have, and other things,” without elaborating further on what those secrets were.

Mary Neese told investigators: “No. You guys, they are having as hard a time with this as we are.” It was not until Shoaf agreed to cooperate that authorities were able to make arrests.

On March 13, 2013, U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II released a press release stating that a body found in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania on January 16, 2013 had been scientifically identified as being the remains of Neese. Neese’s remains were found less than 30 miles away from her home.

Arrest and charging

On September 4, 2013, West Virginia prosecutors publicly identified Shelia Eddy as the second alleged perpetrator of the murder of Skylar Neese and announced that she would be tried as an adult. Eddy was indicted by a grand jury on September 6, 2013 with one count of kidnapping, one count of first-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. Shelia Eddy pleaded not guilty to these charges.

The date of the trial was originally set for January 28, 2014. On January 24, 2014—four days prior to the trial—Shelia Eddy changed her former “Not Guilty” plea and decided to plead “Guilty” to first degree murder with mercy.

Trial and plea

On May 1, 2013, Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. According to the court transcript, Shoaf said that she and Shelia Eddy picked up Neese in Eddy’s car, drove to Pennsylvania, got out of the car, and began socializing. At a pre-arranged time, Shoaf and Eddy stabbed Skylar to death “on the count of three.”

Shoaf later admitted that they killed Skylar because “They didn't want to be friends with her anymore”. The court transcript indicates that other students overheard conversations between Shoaf and Eddy about the murder plot but failed to report it, thinking they were joking. According to Shoaf’s plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree by “unlawfully, feloniously, willfully, maliciously and intentionally causing the death of Skylar Neese by stabbing her and causing fatal injuries”. Under the plea agreement, the State of West Virginia would recommend a sentence of twenty years incarceration. Shoaf’s family issued a public apology for her actions through their lawyer.

Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with mercy on January 24, 2014. Judge Russell Clawges asked questions to ensure she understood her plea, and Eddy said, “Guilty.” Eddy declined to address the court prior to sentencing.

Sentencing

On January 24, 2014, Judge Russell Clawges sentenced Eddy to life imprisonment, with parole eligibility after she has served 15 years. Judge Clawges’ sentencing included an agreement in which a kidnapping charge and two counts of conspiracy were dropped.

Judge Clawges ordered Eddy to remain in a juvenile facility until the Department of Corrections found room in one of its facilities. Clawges said she couldn’t be transferred to a state regional jail due to overcrowding.

David Neese addressed the court prior to sentencing and said: “my life and my wife's life have been drastically altered. We're no longer a family. You can look into the eyes of those who were responsible but you can never know what they heard as they were taking her life.” Eddy did not apologize or address the court beyond her plea. Neese later said it was “unacceptable” that Eddy didn’t address the court or apologize.

Eddy’s defense attorney, Michael Benninger, apologized on behalf of Eddy and her family. Benninger said: “Shelia Eddy and her family recognize the Neese family is in a constant state of despair, lonliness and saddness,” and: “For that, Shelia Eddy and her family are, and will be eternally sorry. … We hope all families … tragically affected can move forward in a more peaceful and hopeful way.”

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

Shelia Eddy pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison on January 24, 2014, with parole eligibility after 15 years.

Aftermath

Skylar’s Law and Amber Alert changes

Neese’s disappearance led to changes to West Virginia’s Amber Alert missing child alert system. An Amber Alert was not issued in Neese’s disappearance because the circumstances did not meet all four criteria for an alert to be issued: (1) that a child is believed to be abducted; (2) that the child is under 18; (3) that the child may be in danger of death or serious injury; and (4) that there is sufficient information to indicate the Amber Alert would be helpful. A waiting period of 48 hours had to elapse before a teenager could be considered missing.

A West Virginia state legislator from the Neese family home district introduced a bill called Skylar’s Law to modify West Virginia’s Amber Alert plan to issue immediate public announcements when any child is reported missing and in danger, regardless of whether the child is believed to have been kidnapped.

On March 27, 2013, the West Virginia House of Delegates approved Skylar’s Law with a 98-0 vote. On April 12, 2013, the West Virginia State Senate unanimously passed the law, made minor technical changes, and the House of Delegates voted to accept on the same day. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the legislation into law in May 2013.

The revised Amber Alert process required law enforcement to relay initial reports of any missing child to state police, regardless of whether the person was a runaway; Amber Alert personnel would then decide whether to issue an alert.

Sentencing context for Rachel Shoaf

Following her guilty plea on May 1, 2013, Rachel Shoaf was awaiting sentencing on second-degree murder charges. Prosecutors said they planned to recommend a 20-year prison sentence for Shoaf and would oppose any move to have her sentenced as a juvenile, though she could get as many as 40 years under the law.

Statements and remarks by family

Skylar’s aunt Carol Michaud said: “She came and acted as if she knew nothing. She pretended and stayed with us and comforted us and swore she had no idea what was going. To come to this day and admit she did just shows how evil she can be.” Neese’s father also said he was “speaking on behalf of my daughter because she can’t be here,” and the tearful Neese said: “We are no longer a family. You can see the faces of the killer, but you can’t see Skylar’s face. You can’t imagine how Mary and I now feel.”