Woman charged in teen's death says she, too, was bullied

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Natalie Keepers told a judge that she was bullied — just like the 13-year-old girl she's accused of plotting to kill.

And like seventh-grader Nicole Lovell, the 19-year-old Virginia Tech student had endured health challenges. But Keepers' were of the emotional variety: suicidal thoughts, cutting herself, stress and anxiety that required medication.

The similarities emerged in a Blacksburg courtroom Thursday as Keepers and her lawyer argued that she should be released on bail while she awaits trial for allegedly helping plan Lovell's slaying and then improperly dumping her body. Bond was denied.

Keepers' Virginia Tech classmate, 18-year-old David Eisenhauer, is charged with kidnapping and killing Lovell, who survived a liver transplant and other health scares only to have her life ended after apparently climbing out her bedroom window last week. Eisenhauer also is being held without bond.