Columbia Man Sentenced In Death Of Virginia Teen: Report

VIRGINIA – A Columbia man was sentenced to 50 years in prison recently in the murder of a 13-year-old girl he reportedly thought he may have impregnated. He could not remember whether he had sex with her because he blacked out and ended up in a ditch, according to the Associated Press; that was what he allegedly told his accomplice, also from Howard County, who will go to trial in September.

David Eisenhauer will serve 50 years in prison for the murder of 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell, who went missing from her family's apartment in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

A Virginia judge sentenced him to 60 years for first-degree murder, 10 years for abduction and five years for concealing the girl's body, according to the Roanoke Times.

Before sentencing, Eisenhauer that he was "sorry for the pain" that his actions caused Lovell and her family, the newspaper reported.

The girl's remains were found three days after she was reported missing, over the state line in Surry County, N.C.

Eisenhauer pleaded no contest in February after prosecutors presented a week's worth of evidence against him, including that Lovell's blood was found in his car and his DNA was discovered under her fingernails, The Washington Post reported. He faced a sentence of up to life plus 15 years for the convictions on counts of first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a dead body, according to the Post.

Both parents of the seventh-grade girl testified at sentencing Tuesday that they had suffered immeasurable grief, the Associated Press reported. A Virginia judge ordered Eisenhauer to 50 years in prison and 25 years of supervised probation.

Officials suspected Lovell had an inappropriate relationship with Eisenhauer, who was 18 at the time and allegedly killed the girl to keep her from revealing the nature of their connection.

A friend of Nicole Lovell attributed the teen's online activities as a way to cope with bullying at school.

"She was looking for someone who would give her attention and give her some compassion," Lovell's 13-year-old classmate told The Washington Post, noting kids bullied her because of a scar on her throat from a tracheotomy.

The medical examiner reportedly found that of the 14 stab wounds the teen suffered, the fatal one was to her neck.

While social media may have introduced Lovell and Eisenhauer, it also helped law enforcement close in on the suspects.

The day before Lovell died—on Tuesday, Jan. 26—she went sledding with a pair of twins in her neighborhood and showed them a picture of "David," the mother of the 8-year-olds told the Associated Press.

Lovell allegedly told the twins she would be sneaking out to see "David" that night and shared with the 8-year-olds messages they exchanged on the app Kik, which reportedly helped lead police to Eisenhauer.

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Natalie Keepers, 21, of Laurel, will begin trial Sept. 17 for concealing a body and acting as an accessory, according to the Roanoke Times. She and Eisenhauer were classmates at Virginia Tech.

Both Eisenhauer and Keepers hailed from Howard County and were studying engineering at Virginia Tech at the time of the murder.

Eisenhauer attended Wilde Lake High School and was a star track athlete. In 2015, he was named the Howard County boys indoor track athlete of the year. He was listed as a long distance runner on Virginia Tech's track and field team until his bio was removed following his arrest.

Keepers attended Hammond High School, interned at NASA and wanted to pursue a career in aerospace engineering, according to The Washington Post.

Pictured, David E. Eisenhauer. Photo Credit: Montgomery County, Va., Jail.