Nicole Lovell: Two Ex-Virginia Tech Students Who Allegedly Lured A 13-Year-Old From Her Bedroom Window Before Slitting Her Throat Set For Trial

Prosecutors are set to reveal more harrowing details Friday in the case of two ex-Virginia Tech students who allegedly plotted to kidnap and kill a 13-year-old girl, Nicole Lovell. Authorities say the socially awkward girl climbed out of a window to meet up with the pair after midnight last January.

As the Washington Post reports, David Eisenhauer has been charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of Nicole Lovell. Natalie Keepers is charged as an accessory to the kidnapping and murder of the Blacksburg seventh-grader as well as aiding and abetting Eisenhauer with the hiding of the body. The hearing of the former students is scheduled for Friday in a Montgomery County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

2nd Virginia Tech student charged in death of Nicole Lovell, 13 #CNN #CNN https://t.co/E8hQ4vTkRQ pic.twitter.com/Bt2IXCUixO

— July (@aunewse) May 20, 2016

Attorney Mary Pettitt said the college students at that time met at a fast-food restaurant in January to hatch a plan on how to kill Nicole. They bought cleaning supplies and a shovel, and they reached a consensus that Eisenhauer would be the one to slit Nicole’s throat. Eisenhauer initially denied that he had anything to do with Nicole, but when police authorities found messages he sent on the girl’s phone, he said he picked her up from her residence where they drove off to meet up with Keepers.

Commonwealth attorney Pettitt said Keepers remains adamant that she was not part of the actual killing but helped to load the dead girl into Eisenhauer’s Lexus car. Nicole’s remains were found two hours away from the campus in an isolated location in North Carolina.

Bryce Dustin, a friend of Eisenhauer whose phone was seized by police, said his 18-year-old friend had texted him about hooking up with a girl at a party only to find out that she was underage. According to Dustin, Eisenhauer had expressed fears about the girl exposing him and asked if he knew where he could hide a body.

Preliminary hearing in Nicole Lovell case set for May: https://t.co/j0q0LNQamI pic.twitter.com/14gjINRkCB

— WNCN (@WNCN) March 31, 2016

Pettitt refused to comment on the search warrant obtained to go through Dustin’s phone as well as the possible motive for the murder, but she revealed that Keepers tried to warn Eisenhauer sending him a one-word text message: “police.”

Eisenhauer was a popular athlete during his time at Virginia Tech. Keepers nursed dreams of working for NASA after a double major in oceanic and aerospace engineering. People who knew them both are still in shock and are unable to connect the pair to the alleged crimes.

Stan Arnold, Keepers’ high school math teacher, said when he saw her mug shot that she was nothing like he remembered her, but that she always came off as a happy and bubbly girl who was excited about the future.

A friend of Nicole said her friend had confided in her that she wanted to run away and start a family with her alleged murderer. Natasha Bryant said Nicole had told her that she wanted to get married to David Eisenhauer. Natasha said her friend was fond of talking to older guys and was fixated with the anonymous chatting app Kik.

Her father, David Lovell, said he was aware of her daughter talking to people older than her. He said this led to a ban from all social media platforms shortly before she died.

He said, “[Y]ou could tell that these older guys had fake profiles, some of the things they said were way to grown up for the picture they had.”

Lovell said he suspected that Keepers played a part in the murder of her daughter, pointing to a scratch on her face from her mug shot.

“I bet she fought like a wildcat… she would not have gone out without a fight, she’s my girl,” he said.

[Photo by Allen G. Breed/AP Images]