A prosecutor said Natalie Keepers, 19-who was denied bond on Thursday-and David Eisenhauer, 18, plotted in late January to kill Nicole Lovell and dispose of her body, CNN reported.
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Virginia Tech Police / Instagram Nicole Lovell, 13, was found dead near the North Carolina border days after disappearing.
Eisenhauer, 18, is jailed without bond on charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. Keepers was arrested on Sunday and faces charges of improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.
Eisenhauer was a freshman engineering student and a distance runner on the track team at Virginia Tech.
Pettit says Eisenhauer and Keepers met at a fast-food restaurant to plan how they’d kill Nicole, and drove past her home.
Eisenhauer told Keepers how he would lure Nicole out of her home one night, take her to a remote location and use a knife to cut her throat, the prosecutor said.
The 13-year-old was planning to expose their relationship, the official said, and investigators believe he stabbed her to prevent that. She wore a burnt orange jumpsuit with “WVRJ Inmate” written on the back, and had her hands shackled to her waist.
It was the messages on the missing girl’s phone that led police to Eisenhauer, Pettitt said. Nicole told the girls she would be sneaking out to meet him, Snider said. The charge of accessory before the fact indicates Keepers was not present during the killing.
Her attorneys told the judge their client is under duress and she’s being held in isolation.
Eisenhauer told authorities he greeted the girl with a side hug, and then brought her to Keepers, Pettitt said.
Attorneys for Eisenhauer and Keepers have declined to comment on the case.
Keepers’ parents were at the hearing and spoke on their daughter’s behalf.
Pettitt revealed just enough information to persuade a judge to deny Keepers’ bail, leaving key aspects of the crime a mystery.
An examination of emails and social media showed that Eisenhauer and Nicole last made contact at 12:39 that morning, shortly before she disappeared, the prosecutor said.
Defense lawyers argued that Keepers’ mental health could unravel behind bars.
Pettit also said that after the killing, prosecutors believe the two put Lovell’s body in the trunk of Eisenhauer’s vehicle, then bought cleaning supplies and a shovel at Walmarts in the area.
“I’ve learned how to love myself and to take care of myself and deal with any stress that I have”, Keepers said, describing how she had promised a friend that if she stopped cutting herself, she would get a tattoo of a semi-colon, representing that her life was not ending, but taking a new path.
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Fellow student 18-year-old David Eisenhauer also is charged in the death; he’s accused of kidnapping and fatally stabbing Nicole.
