In a case that has redefined the boundaries of domestic horror, a West Virginia mother has been condemned to spend the rest of her life behind bars for the calculated execution of her four-year-old daughter—a crime birthed from a twisted, possessive envy of her own husband’s affection for the child.
On Thursday, April 30, 33-year-old Rebakah Weikle entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. The charges stem from the July 2022 slaying of young Haley Weikle, whose life was ended by a knife in the supposed sanctuary of her Forest Hill bedroom. Under the terms of her two life sentences, Rebakah will not be eligible to breathe free air for at least 30 years.
For Haley’s father, Rusty Weikle, the sentencing serves as a cold confirmation of the darkness he lived alongside. “I want everybody to know how evil the person that she is and what all she has done. She killed a four-year-old baby, my baby,” he told WOAY, his voice carrying the weight of an unimaginable grief. “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.”
A Digital Trail of Intent
The prosecution’s case painted a picture not of a sudden snap, but of a methodical descent into homicide. Summers County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Lefler revealed a disturbing digital footprint left by the mother in the weeks leading up to the killing.
Beginning in mid-to-late June, Rebakah’s phone became a logbook of lethal intent. She conducted “very pointed searches” on how to inflict fatal harm, focusing specifically on lacerations, stab wounds, and vulnerable anatomical locations.
“I can only assume that with her statement that she had this growing animosity and jealousy, most likely when she was conducting these searches, she did have her daughter in mind,” Lefler noted. While the initial queries were somewhat generic—investigating stab wounds to the chest and the duration of the dying process—they quickly sharpened into a specific plan of action.
The Night of the Crime
According to the prosecution, the horror unfolded on the night of July 11, after Rusty and Haley’s two brothers had retired for the evening. Left alone with the four-year-old, Rebakah ordered the girl to bed. It was then, Lefler says, that she retrieved a knife from the kitchen.
The details of the assault are clinical and cruel. To ensure the screams of the child did not alert the sleeping father, Rebakah used a pillow or blanket to muffle Haley’s mouth. The resulting wound to the throat was “fatal very quickly,” a small mercy in an otherwise merciless act.
What followed was a chilling display of composure. Prosecutors allege that after the killing, Rebakah cleaned and concealed the murder weapon, ran a load of laundry, and hid her blood-stained clothing in a pile of laundry—items later recovered by investigators.
In a staggering display of sociopathy, she then entered her husband’s bedroom, disrobed, and initiated sex with him. After he fell back to sleep, she spent the remaining pre-dawn hours on her phone, pivoting from the act of murder to the mechanics of getting away with it. Around 5:00 a.m., her search history turned to “throat cut” and “fingerprints.”
The Morning After
The ruse ended when the sun rose. Rebakah told her husband, “Haley’s not awake.” When Rusty urged her to wake the child, she dropped the mask, responding simply: “Haley’s dead.”
The father rushed to the bedroom to find his daughter’s body, sparking a frantic 911 call that initially saw both parents charged with murder. However, the charges against Rusty were ultimately dropped as evidence corroborated his innocence. “He never changed his story and ultimately it proved to be correct that he really didn’t know anything,” Lefler said. “This was the horror that he woke up to.”
While cleared of the murder, Rusty pleaded guilty to child neglect resulting in death and two counts of child neglect creating substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
As the legal chapter closes on Rebakah Weikle, the remnants of the family are left to pick up the pieces. Haley’s two brothers have since been moved out of state to reside with relatives, far from the Forest Hill home where a mother’s jealousy turned lethal.