Stabbing Suspected in Virginia Girl's Death, HoCo Teens Charged

BLACKSBURG, VA — A 13-year-old Virginia girl who was reported missing and found deceased days later likely died from stabbing, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary Pettitt.

Nicole Madison Lovell, 13, disappeared from her family’s apartment on Wednesday, Jan. 27, and her remains were found Saturday, Jan. 30, just over the state line in Surry County, N.C.

“A very preliminary determination of cause of death is stabbing,” Pettitt announced at a press conference Tuesday.

Two Howard County teens have been charged in her death. Both were engineering students at Virginia Tech.

David E. Eisenhauer, 18, of Columbia, was originally charged with abduction and first-degree murder in Lovell’s death.

Natalie M. Keepers, 19, of Laurel, was initially charged with improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony.

Pettitt said Tuesday that charges against the Columbia man and Laurel woman accused in the 13-year-old’s murder will be amended.

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“The offense date on [Eisenhauer’s] warrant was incorrectly listed as Jan. 30,” Pettitt said. “That will be amended in court to read on or about Jan. 27, which is the same day that Nicole went missing.”

Keepers “will be charged today with being an accessory before the fact to the first-degree murder of Nicole Lovell,” Pettitt said Tuesday, emphasizing the word before. “That charge carries a term from 20 years to life in prison. In addition, she remains charged with concealing a dead body, a felony carrying a maximum term of 10 years; and with being an accessory after the fact, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum term of 12 months in jail.”

Both Eisenhauer and Keepers are being held without bond and will appear March 28 for preliminary hearings.

The autopsy report is expected to be complete just before those hearings, according to Pettitt, who said that laboratory results and other tests take time.