A West Virginia woman by the name of Rebakah Weikle has pled guilty to murder and child abuse resulting in the death of her four-year-old daughter, Haley, after she cut the preschooler’s throat. According to Haley’s father and Rebakah’s wife the reason the mother murdered their daughter in cold blood was because she was “jealous.”
Rebakah Weikle, 33, was handed two life sentences after pleading guilty in court on April 30th. Haley was fatally stabbed in her bedroom in the early hours of July 12th 2022. Rebakah won’t be eligible for parole for at least 30 years although the court acknowledged the very possible likelihood that she would die behind bars.
“I want everybody to know how evil the person that she is and what all she has done.” Haley’s father, Rusty Weikle, said of Rebakah, per WOAY, “She killed a four year old baby, my baby.” Rusty went on to explain that his wife had committed her horrific act out of jealousy, “She was jealous that I was paying attention to her, doing what I was supposed to do, watching out for her. I was trying to keep her safe.”
Rebakah Weikle had looked up ways to kill her daughter
The prosecution accused Rebakah of becoming extremely jealous of the attention Rusty was paying to Haley and this jealousy drove her to plot the four-year-old’s murder. She researched on her phone how to harm her own daughter before eventually acting on her violent feelings. Summers County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Lefler told People that Rebakah’s search history related to lacerations and stab wounds.
In court Lefler described what likely happened in an emotional speech in court. “Young Haley laid down, and at some point, Rebakah made the decision to cut her throat,” he said, “In that act, while that little girl struggled while she was reaching around her, she inflicted two stab wounds to her chest. She was then able to make the fatal laceration across Haley’s throat and took her life.”
Speaking after the trial Lefler stated that Rebakah “had this great resentment towards her daughter,” which fueled her to take the preschooler’s life. “It almost seems impossible to accept,” he added.
The aftermath
After the murder Rebakah apparently hid the clothes and the knife before going to bed. She then woke her husband up to have sex. The next morning she told him, “Haley’s not awake,” when he told her to wake their daughter up Rebakah responded, “Haley’s dead.”
Initially, both parents were arrested for murder. Rebakah tried to claim that it was Rusty that had murdered their daughter but later admitted to the lie and the charges against the husband were dropped.
The horrific case has had a severe effect on the local county due to the terrible nature of the crime. Now that Rebakah Weikle is facing justice perhaps the local community can begin to heal.
