LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from Feb. 25, 2021
A Lancaster County teen accused of stabbing her older sister to death in 2021 will serve up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to a charge of third-degree murder Friday afternoon, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said.
Claire Miller, now 16, was sentenced to a 12½- to 40-year prison term by Lancaster County Judge Jeffrey Wright after entering her plea.
She was charged with third-degree murder in the death of her sister, Helen, who was 19 years old at the time of her death on Feb. 22, 2021.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Muller prosecuted the case.
“The events that bring us here today are incoherently tragic,” Wright said at the hearing. “Mr. and Mrs. Miller sit here on the difficult challenge of supporting both the victim and the defendant.”
According to prosecutors, a person who waives their right to trial may plead guilty but mentally ill.
During the hearing, Muller asked that an expert doctor’s report detailing the defendant’s mental illness at the time of the incident be incorporated into the record. Wright admitted the report.
Wright asked Miller a series of questions to confirm she was knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently entering a guilty plea, prosecutors said. One of the questions involved Miller’s mental health.
The defendant responded she has been treated for depression and an unidentified psychotic disorder and was on medication. She did not give any further statement when given the opportunity, prosecutors said.
Wright determined Miller to be mentally ill but not mentally disabled, accepted the plea and imposed sentence.
“While all homicides are tragic, this case was particularly sad because the victim was her own sister and unable to defend herself,” District Attorney Heather Adams said. “The pain this must have caused the family is unthinkable.
“The Commonwealth does not dispute that Miller suffered from a mental health event at the time of this offense, but it legally did not excuse the conduct. The sentence imposed today holds her accountable for the crime committed, but balances the nature of this offense, her young age, her mental condition at the time and the protection of society.
The onus now rests with the Department of Corrections to appropriately treat her mental illness and only grant parole when it is clear that she is no longer a threat to the public.”
According to Manheim Township Police, who investigated the case, officers were dispatched to the Millers' home on the 1500 block of Clayton Road shortly after 1 a.m. on Feb. 22, 2021, after Claire Miller called authorities and reported that she had killed her sister.
Upon arrival, officers met Claire Miller, who waved them down while standing in front of the home and directed them to a bedroom, where they found Helen Miller, who had sustained a stab wound to her neck.
Officers and EMS personnel performed lifesaving measures that were unsuccessful. Helen Miller was pronounced deceased at 4:13 a.m. by the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office.
Officers observed blood on the snow outside the residence and on the defendant’s pants. Responding officers reported the defendant repeatedly said, “I stabbed my sister.”
Charges against Claire Miller were filed in the Court of Common Pleas because homicide is a “direct file” offense.
The defense filed a petition to have Claire Miller decertified so the prosecution would occur in juvenile court. Defense counsel argued and presented testimony during the decertification hearing that she had a psychotic break that led to the killing, namely auditory command hallucinations coming from a woman that she attempted to silence by stabbing.
Claire Miller’s petition to move the case to juvenile court was denied by Judge David Workman in July 2022 and she was ordered to be tried as an adult before deciding to plead guilty but mentally ill, according to prosecutors.