BOONE COUNTY A Boone County judge has granted a mental evaluation request for the mother charged in connection with the starving death of her teenage daughter.
After being found dead in her Morrisvale home earlier this year, described by officials as "emaciated to a skeletal state," fourteen-year-old Kyneddi Miller remains at the center of an ongoing case involving her mother, Julie Miller, and grandparents, Donna and Jerry Stone.
In a Boone County courtroom on Friday, Judge Stacy Nowicki-Eldridge approved a request for Julie Miller to undergo a routine mental evaluation to assess both her competency to stand trial and her criminal responsibility. The request was made by Miller’s attorney, Ron Walters Jr. Under state law, defendants who request a mental evaluation are entitled to one.
Kyneddi’s grandmother Donna Stone will no longer be required to take drug tests as part of her bond conditions. Judge Nowicki-Eldridge determined that continuing the tests no longer serves the interests of public justice. Jerry Stone, Kyneddi’s grandfather, is still awaiting the completion of a previously ordered mental evaluation.
The trial for Miller, Donna Stone, and Jerry Stone is scheduled to begin on January 29, 2025. The three waived their right to a speedy trial earlier in the case.
All three were indicted in September on charges of murder by a parent, guardian, or custodian by failure or refusal to provide necessities, along with child neglect resulting in death. They entered not guilty pleas in October.
Kyneddi’s death occurred in April. A criminal complaint states she was found deceased in a bathroom after lying on the floor for four to five days. Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Holstein described her condition as comparable to Holocaust victims due to severe malnourishment. A family member reported to law enforcement that Kyneddi had not been eating for months and had been unable to function for nearly a week before her death.
A request by Julie Miller to move the trial out of Boone County was denied on November fifteenth. Miller’s defense argued that widespread media coverage and public opinion in the county would prevent an impartial jury from being seated. However, the court ruled the motion lacked merit, citing no evidence of pervasive hostility or affidavits supporting the claim.
The defense also proposed using a pollster to gauge public opinion within the judicial circuit, which was similarly denied. Court documents state that media coverage alone is insufficient to justify moving a trial, and that the state says potential jurors should be questioned before any decision about impartiality can be made.