West Virginia Man Gets Life Sentence For Killing Girlfriend's Daughter
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man was sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole for the 2019 killing of his girlfriend's teenage daughter.
Andy McCauley did not speak during his trial or at sentencing Thursday in Morgan County Circuit Court, news outlets reported. He was convicted of first-degree murder, death of a child by a custodian by child abuse and concealment of a body in the death of 15-year-old Riley Crossman, according to the reports.
During the sentencing hearing, Riley's mother, Chantel Oakley, described her daughter as kind and amazing.
"Andy took that all away from us," said Oakley, who asked the judge to impose the maximum penalty.
During the trial, Morgan County Prosecutor Dan James said that Riley had sent her boyfriend a text message the night of May 7, 2019.
"Andy's in my room and I'm scared," she wrote, according to James. The boyfriend was asleep when the message was sent.
James said McCauley suffocated Riley with a pillow in her bedroom.
Division of Natural Resources officers found the girl's decomposed body along the side of a road in Berkeley County. Berkeley Springs High School had contacted her mother a week earlier about her absence from school.
At trial, the defense called no witnesses before resting.
A jury convicted McCauley last month and recommended no mercy.
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