A mother in Berkeley, West Virginia, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the murder of her 4-year-old daughter, Haley. The 33-year-old Rebekah Weikle confessed to cutting her daughter's throat, driven by jealousy over the attention the child received from her husband.
Court Proceedings
On Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Summers County Circuit Court, Weikle was sentenced after admitting to first-degree murder and child abuse. The crime occurred on July 11, 2022, or in the early hours of July 12, 2022, in the bedroom of the family home in the Forest Hill area of West Virginia.
Father's Statement
Haley's father, Rusty Weikle, expressed his anguish, saying, "I want everybody to know how evil the person is and what she has done. She killed a four-year-old baby, my baby. 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."
The prosecution argued that Weikle became obsessively jealous of Haley due to the father's attention and began researching ways to harm her child.
Details of the Crime
Summers County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Lefler detailed the events: after the father and Haley's two brothers went to bed, only Haley and Weikle remained awake. Weikle told Haley to go to bed, then retrieved a knife from the kitchen and committed the act. Lefler stated, "She used either a blanket or a pillow to cover Haley's mouth, and she specifically said so that the father would not hear, and the nature of the wound—it was fatal very quickly."
After the murder, Weikle cleaned and hid the knife, then used the laundry machine before going to bed. She disrobed, hid her clothing, and woke her husband to have sex. He went back to sleep, while she stayed on her phone all night, researching topics related to throat cutting and fingerprints.
Discovery of the Body
In the morning, Weikle told her husband that Haley was not awake. When he asked her to wake the child, she said Haley was dead. Rusty Weikle went to the bedroom and told her to call 911. She entered numbers but did not place the call until he took the phone and did it himself.
Weikle initially tried to convince law enforcement that her husband had killed Haley to cover up alleged sexual abuse, but later admitted this was a lie as part of her plea. Lefler said, "She revealed that she was solely responsible for this, and she has now taken responsibility for committing this. In fact, she admitted that she did this in such a way that it was hidden from Rusty and actually took steps to ensure that he did not hear why she was committing this act."
Sentencing
Rebekah Weikle received two life sentences after pleading guilty to the charges. She will be eligible for parole after 30 years. According to WOAY, the court acknowledged that Weikle is likely to die in prison.
