CHRISTIANSBURG (WINA) – The day after finding her guilty of accessory before the fact of first-degree murder, a Montgomery County jury has recommended former Virginia Tech student Natalie Keepers spend 40 years in prison. A sobbing Keepers during her Friday morning sentencing hearing said she was sorry for what happened… and that she wished she could have stopped then-boyfriend David Eisenhauer from killing 13-year old Nicole Lovell. She turned to Lovell’s family and said she prays for them everyday. Keepers parents and sister pleaded for mercy in sentencing.

Keepers had admitted prior to this trial of helping Eisenhauer hide Nicole’s body in January 2016 after he had killed the girl. However, the defense argued in this trial that she was helping Eisenhauer before the killing with what she thought was just a fantasy to kill Lovell.  The defense said she never thought he would actually do it. However, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Jensen in closing argument successfully argued “she helped him plan the killing… she knew he was going to kill Nicole Lovell… she helped him pick out the spot… she is guilty”.

Eisenhauer — an 18-year old Virginia Tech student at the time — reportedly met the Blacksburg Middle School student online sometime during his and Keepers’ freshman year. Published reports say investigators believed Eisenhauer and Lovell were in an inappropriate relationship — and court documents revealed earlier this year say Eisenhauer was afraid Lovell had become pregnant. Investigators say he then started to plot the girl’s murder — and that Keepers was in on the plans. He abducted the girl from her home after convincing her to meet him in January 2016, and took her to Craig Creek Road in Montgomery County where he stabbed her to death. Her remains were found three days later off Highway 89 in Surry County, North Carolina — where he and Keepers hid Lovell’s body.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree murder, abduction, and hiding a dead body. He is serving a 50-year sentence.