Rebakah Weikle must serve at least 30 years before she can seek parole.

BECKLEY, W.Va. — A West Virginia woman was sentenced to two consecutive life terms after admitting she killed her 4-year-old daughter in 2022, ending a case prosecutors said began with false claims and ended with a guilty plea.

Rebakah Weikle, 33, pleaded guilty April 30 to first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death in the killing of her daughter, Haley Weikle. Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble ordered two terms of 15 years to life, with the sentences to run one after the other. That means Weikle must serve at least 30 years before she is eligible for parole. Prosecutors said the plea settled the central question in a case that had weighed on Summers County for nearly four years.

The killing happened at the family’s home in the Forest Hill area of Summers County on July 11, 2022, or in the early hours of July 12, 2022. Prosecutors said Haley had gone to bed after what began as a normal evening at home. Summers County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Lefler said in court that Weikle later followed the child into the bedroom and attacked her. “Young Haley laid down, and at some point, Rebakah made the decision to cut her throat,” Lefler said. He told the court the child struggled before the fatal wound was inflicted.

Investigators said Weikle’s motive was tied to jealousy and resentment toward the child because of the attention Haley received from her father, Rusty Weikle. Lefler said Weikle admitted she had developed “great resentment” toward her daughter, a statement he described as difficult to accept. Prosecutors also said Weikle had searched online before the killing for information about harming people, stab wounds, lacerations and how long it could take someone to die from certain injuries. Lefler said those records helped investigators move beyond competing stories about what happened inside the home.

After the killing, prosecutors said, Weikle hid the knife and the clothes she had been wearing, left Haley’s body in the bedroom and went to bed. The next morning, she told Rusty Weikle that Haley was not awake. When he told her to wake the child, prosecutors said, she answered that Haley was dead. Rusty Weikle went into the room, found his daughter and told Rebakah Weikle to call 911. Prosecutors said she entered the numbers but did not complete the call, and Rusty Weikle took the phone and called emergency services himself.

The investigation first included both parents. Prosecutors later said Rusty Weikle was not involved in the killing, but they also said he had ignored warning signs that could have helped prevent Haley’s death. He pleaded guilty to child neglect and abuse charges and received home confinement and probation. In court, he said he had been trying to protect his daughter. “She killed a four-year-old baby, my baby,” he said. “She was jealous that I was paying attention to her, doing what I was supposed to do.”

Rebakah Weikle also tried to blame her husband, prosecutors said, by claiming he killed Haley to cover up alleged sexual abuse. Lefler said those claims were not true, and Weikle admitted as part of her plea that she had fabricated them. Prosecutors said the false accusation complicated the case and forced investigators to sort through statements, phone records, biological evidence and the physical scene. Lefler said the evidence eventually showed Weikle acted while trying to keep her husband from hearing what was happening in the bedroom.

The case drew in several agencies in Summers County and across West Virginia. Lefler said the Summers County Sheriff’s Department, Hinton Police Department, West Virginia State Police, West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, forensic laboratory staff, digital analysts and child advocacy interviewers all had roles. Judge Froble, a Raleigh County judge, handled the matter to avoid conflicts of interest in Summers County. Prosecutors said the plea agreement provided a final court record of what happened and removed the need for a trial centered on the death of a young child.

Haley’s two brothers are living with relatives or another family outside the home, according to public statements in the case. Prosecutors said the surviving children were not accused of any role in the killing and were affected by the same household collapse that followed Haley’s death. Lefler said the case was one of the hardest his office had handled because of the age of the victim, the relationship between mother and child and the years it took to reach a clear account.

Weikle remains in state custody under the two life sentences. Her first chance at parole will come after she has served 30 years, though the court noted she is likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.

Author note: Last updated May 23, 2026.