Miana Stewart: How Long Will It Go On?

The man charged in connection with the murder of a 14-year-old Gerrardstown girl Thursday had previously been convicted in Virginia of abduction and attempted rape and was required to register as a sex offender for life, according to police and court records.

Roger Dwayne Smith, 24, of 419 S. Raleigh St., Martinsburg, was arraigned Friday morning on charges of murder, daytime burglary and malicious wounding.

Miana Stewart, a popular ninth-grader at Musselman High School, was found dead inside the basement of her home at 195 Reunion Corner Road.

"Her mouth was taped and she was tied up everywhere," Sgt. Willie Johnson with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department said. "We're assuming (she died from) some form of asphyxiation."

It's getting so bad the MSM can't even make room for reporting all of them, especially the ones which wrap up rather quickly. I am talking about the all too many instances where repeat sexual offenders assault, rape and kill our children.

This is a story that came and went - most of us never even heard of it.

GERRARDSTOWN, W.VA. - A 14-year-old girl was found dead inside the basement of her Gerrardstown, W.Va., home early Thursday evening, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Randy Smith.

Capt. K.C. Bohrer of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department identified the girl as Mia Stewart. Bohrer said the victim might have died as a result of having an object tightly bound across her throat.

The girl's mother was tied up and beaten with a baseball bat, but was able to free herself and run to a neighboring home to call 911, Smith said

Of course it looks like another previously convicted sex offender is to blame. But, oh, they have their rights. My butt.

GERRARDSTOWN - The man allegedly responsible for a 14-year-old Gerrardstown teen's death Thursday is a convicted sex offender who violated probation in Virginia. He was also jailed in West Virginia for failing to register his conviction with authorities here, Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely said.

Before Roger Dwayne Smith, 24, was arraigned Friday morning for the murder of Miana Stewart, malicious wounding of her mother, Mary, and daytime burglary of their home at 195 Reunion Corner Road, he was prosecuted in Gloucester County, Va., in 2000 on charges of attempted rape and abduction, Games-Neely said.

Additional coverage here here and here. h/t Russ

Comments

[redpetals12]

This one came and went for sure, I never heard this, it's just as sad and sickening as the ones we read about for weeks. But I would STRONGLY suggest that everyone who reads this blog (in the US) write your representatives and congressman at both the state and national level and DEMAND more be done to these criminals. Until we pressure the lawmakers (repeatedly, and in huge quanities) this will go on!

[greenwing]

And Virginia is one of the tougher states on sex offenders.

[greenwing]

And Virginia is one of the tougher states on sex offenders.

[redpetals12]

After Hurrican Katrina I learned 4000+/- sex offenders had been sent to Texas, authorities can give no time frame on tracking them, since they were sent there in a rush w/ the other refuguees. How scary is that!

[redpetals12]

Hurrican Katrina

OOPS, I meant Hurricane Katrina, It's late..

[suzyqueue]

This is the type of crime where the punishment should fit the crime - life in prison, no parole. No excuses.

[LALady]

These sick monsters cannot be cured. We must change the laws to keep them out of society. Ophra is now doing a show about abusers and showing their pictures...Our courts need to be held accountable for letting these creatures back in our towns. We must demand it!!!!

[redpetals12]

We must demand it!!!!

Posted by: LALady | Oct 16, 2005 2:08:27 AM

you can search on yahoo or msn either one, "write my congressman" and you will get the names and office address of every congressman in the US.
DEMAND, DEMAND ! It's becoming an epidemic. Oprah has so far made one arrest I know by having that air. Many of the cable guys, O'reilly, etc. are on the bandwagon. "we the people" must join in. How terrible this will be for her mom for the rest of her life! Like all the other victims, we pray for them, we feel for them and then we go on...how are they to go on??
Life, no excuses and we have to be willing to pay the taxes to keep them there.

[bw]

maybe they should stop locking up all the unaborted black babies and old black men standing on a street corner and arrest some of their own.

[dadreamer]

Maybe we need a national petition to congress about this. As a country, we are failing miserably at protecting our children and our society in a most basic way from sexual predators. What does it take to get these guys removed from society PERMANENTLY? I guess someones life.
And sometimes that isn't enough either. This makes me sick. Maybe the ACLU should start defending the rights of the potential victims instead of these scumbags. It's beyond words.

[splashtc]

Since they can't be cured because it's a brain sickness, how about a lobotomy if they want to released otherwise life in jail. Floridas' new gun law is making sense now.

[dennisintn]

maybe if all the members and contributors to the aclu were required to take one of these predators into their own home to nourish and love on, they'd soon realize the truth about them..

[dennisintn]

this epidemic has been going on for years, but until the msm started covering the natalee holloway case and realized how large the interest was in this kind of horror, it just wasn't covered as intensely. the only good thing at all about natalee's disappearance is the increased media coverage all the other cases are getting. and it has been very effective in getting results.

[usmcmom]

Our courts need to be held accountable for letting these creatures back in our towns. We must demand it!!!!

Posted by: LALady | Oct 16, 2005 2:08:27 AM

I think in the case of Dylan Croene, they are bringing a case against the Judge and the State of Minnesota for allowing Duncan bail on the pending sexual assault charge he had against the 6- & 7-year old in that state. Duncan had priors, and had served time for sexual assault before. State law should have denied him bail in MN. Then obviously, he would not have been free to kill Dylan, his mom, and her boyfriend.

We are bending over backwards in this country to protect the rights of citizens who have served their time in jail which I understand. But the problem, IMO, is that "after-incarceration" laws treat a person who served time for robbery the same as a person who served time for sexual assault.

Just as a felon bears a higher burden to receive his voting rights back, a person charged with a crime of assault, whether it be sexual or not, whether it be against a child or not, should be requied by law to wear a monitor for a 5-year period of time. If they assault again, life imprisonment w/o parole, no do-overs.

If ADT can monitor my home and millions of others for $39.95 a month, why can't sexual predators be monitored....it makes no sense.

[daystarburn]

It is horrible, the innocence taken and destroyed. We all have to protect ourselves. I agree with the FL gun laws. This man was going to get this girl, because he knew he could. What is up with the term daytime robbery? I have lived all over the east coast, and daytime robberies are nothing new, and never had a special name before now. It sounds like the girl came home to a parentless house alone. She had no chance of defending herself against him. The sick, demented men and women who want your children for reasons you do not want to ponder that are the problem. I leave my 14 yo alone occasionally, and she has a semi auto 9 by her side at all times. The only way to protect yourself and kids is to always be proactive and defensive, and even then sometimes you will not be able to save yourself and family. We are prey, and the lowest on the food chain, the sooner we realize that the safer we, and our loved ones will be.

[daystarburn]

Tinypic.com is a website that a lot of kids use to upload pics.

Now go to Tinypics.com just a typo mistake away, and you instantly end up with eyes full of shock, the same thing happens everytime your kids go on line, they are barraged with this sexual matter regardless of whether they search for it or not. If you are upset that a porn company would place a link to uncensored porn using a website name that is very similar to a kids' website then write your senators, congressional leaders, the president, whoever it takes for internet porn to get an XXX.com stlye address. As parents there are endless precautions we need to take, and they never end, we all must be diligent to keep our families safe.

[Kat_Gram]

During and after the Jessica Lunsford case, I became aware, thru the media , of the vast numbers of predators who are out because they served their sentences. I totally agree with the previous posters on this one. The laws have to be changed in the US and in Canada where I live.

Someone had emailed me with a sort of ironic comment. We know the exact location in Canada of one Mad Cow and where that Mad Cow was its whole life, but we don't know where the pedophiles are.

In almost every case here and in the US the offender was not a first time offender. It seems to be a given that they will re offend. When is the only question.

[b]

This is why I am so glad that Bill O'Reilly is being such a hard ass about this. I hope he doesn't let up. I hope he keeps having these idiot politicians on who talk about the rights of the offender so he can verbally slice them up into little pieces and show the world what they are really made of...The media in general is ignoring this as if it will somehow go away. Sadly we seem to have an epidemic.

[TheAlamo]

I am normally not in favor of torture, but for these a__holes, why not. They have robbed children of LIFE and the only way to stop it is to make the suffering for the crime more heinous than the crime.
Do we not think they have tortured these little ones?
Hang em upside down and let the parents of the victims have at it.

[L.]

Everyday I spend about 3 hours doing nothing but looking for news related to sex offenders. (That's mainly what I write about.) And yet somehow I didn't see anything about this until coming here.

I would have to agree Dan, if someone actually trying to find the story can't, then just how good is the media at hiding it? Or not reporting it- which ever you way you prefer to think of it.

As to the gun law in Fl, and the other comment about someones daughter always having a gun by her side: when taken completely by surprise, most people will not have time to reach for that gun. How many people have a gun in their home and can be sure that if someone broke in while they where in the shower- that "safety net" would be right there in the shower with them?

The only way- and when I say only- that's exactly what I mean, that we will ever be able to even begin to protect ourselves and our children from these monsters is to demand that they have lifetime sentencing. And not the kind where they call 25 years life. I mean they are locked up behind steel bars in a prison cell until the very moment they die.

[jruble11]

Actually, the local media has provided in-depth coverage and tributes to Miana. Moreover, they are respecting the parent's right to privacy and mourning. More info. can be obtained from The Martinsburg Journal about this horrific occurence. The small town of Martinsburg and its surrounding "suburbs" has experienced 6 murders since July because of a rising population boom due to flight from the overcrowded D.C. area. However, this murderer was a local. We are beginning to not even know our neighbors. Makes one wonder just how many more are around without public knowledge.

[rico]

Bonehead,
'
The six murders (where the perpetrator(s) have been caught) since July were committed by locals. Has nothing to due with rising population from overcrowded DC area.

[anonymous]

okay well i was a friend of Miana and i really know that she didnt deserve any of this!! her family was so wonderful, and they do not deserve to suffer like this is any way!! i think this guy either needs to get a slow painful death or life in prison.. she was a wonderful person, and i saw her body at the viewing/funeral, and he really changed her.. she looked nothing like she used to, he ruined her. she used to be the greatest, a smile was always on her face, and she was so sweet. i saw her at the funeral home and her lips were puffed from not breathing and she had a scarf around her neck to hide the marks.. also when i gave her mother a hug i saw the bruises on her face and she had many broken fingers.. it brings tears to my eyes every night when i think of what they are going through.. this is the worst thing i have ever had to go through.. this man deserves to die..

[Kristina]

Im am so sorry for what has happened to Miana Stewart. I didnot know her but i go to mms and everyone was talking about it. My friends Brother sat right beside her in 1st period

[Kristina]

Im am so sorry for what has happened to Miana Stewart. I didnot know her but i go to mms and everyone was talking about it. My friends Brother sat right beside her in 1st period

[.]

I am a family friend of the Stewart's and was shocked Thursday night of the news. This is something that should not have happened to Mary and Randy's precious little angel. The man who performed such a terrible act on Miana states all he wanted to do was rob them. If that's the case then he should have taken what he wanted and let her go but he didn't. He's a low life with a criminal record a mile long. He will receive jail time, that I am sure of but nothing near the amount of time he deserves. For some reason the law seems to think 15 years in jail is a "life sentence" well when you're 24 years old that is NOT your whole life. In situations like this, the death penalty should be used but won't be. All I would like everyone to do is pray for the family and friends of Miana. This is something that they will never get over. Miana was such a sweet, innocent, beautiful young lady who has had the opportunity of living a wonderful life taken away from her from a petifile man. The sad part is, despite the record he has and despite all the crimes he's already committed, he will still be able to walk around and be with his family where as Miana will never get to do that. May God bless her and her family and Miana, we can all rest assure knowing someday, we will see you again. You will be missed greatly and just know there is not a day that goes by you do not cross my mind. Love you forever.

[Liz]

Here is a an article that describes who Miana was and why we all miss her so much; It is still so hard to believe shes gone

Take me home ...

By ROB SNYDER, Journal Staff Writer

INWOOD - She was a young girl who used to bring her stuffed animals to church to introduce them to her minister.

A student who built a friendship with her church's youth leader on an agreement that swapped cooking lessons for riding lessons.
And a fiercely proud child of West Virginia, who friends say refused to brook criticism of the state she dearly loved.

On Tuesday under a blue sky, the family of Miana Stewart welcomed several hundred people to South Berkeley Chapel to stand and sing with them amid the strains of one of the 14-year-old girl's favorite songs, 'Take Me Home Country Roads,' and help them bid their child farewell.

Miana, a freshman at Musselman High School, was killed last week after being attacked by a burglar who had broken into her family's Gerrardstown home. Her mother, Mary also was injured in the attack.

During the young girl's funeral ceremony Tuesday, the Rev. Tim Butler read a note to the girl, which had been written by Miana's father, Randy Stewart.

"I believe if everyone had a little more of Miana in them the world would be a better place," the note read.

That sentiment was echoed by Barbara Miller, director of Children's Education at Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church.

Miller, who shared many personal reminiscences with those in attendance, called Miana "love personified."

"When someone said, 'to know her is to love her,' they must have been speaking of Miana," Miller said.

The service was attended by numerous faculty, staff and students from Musselman, as well as a number of officers from

the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department, which apprehended the man charged with her death.

Many of the grieving in attendance at the chapel were children - Miana's school friends, boys and girls who clung to one another and to their parents to

share their sorrow, and who, by all appearances, seemed too young to have to bear the burden of burying one of their own.

The service, which included several scriptural passages and songs described as some of Miana's favorites, also featured a performance by Kaleidoscope, a choir group from the school.

The group sang "Friends are Friends Forever."

The girl's death also provoked a response from the surrounding community.

Those leaving the service were greeted at the Corner Grocery near Inwood by a selection of dogs and horses that store owner Eric Weber said he gathered in honor of Miana, who herself owned several animals.

"We had the whole place decorated with yellow ribbons," said Weber, adding the store has set up a permanent collection fund for the sheriff department's canine unit, one of which was responsible for capturing the girl's alleged killer.

In eloquently worded remarks toward the close of the service, Miana's pastor, the Rev. William Starr, implored family and friends not to blame God for the girl's death.

"Do not say that God willed this and make some mockery of God's love for all of us," said Starr, admitting to the congregants that he too wrestled with feelings of doubt and of life's unfairness upon hearing word of Miana's death last week.

Describing the young girl as someone whose life "outsoared the shadows of our night," Starr urged those in attendance not to dwell in their sorrow, but embrace their faith and recognize that Miana is in a better place, a place filled with happiness and joy and "newness of life."

"Try to imagine all the wonderful things she is experiencing now," said Starr. "I fervently believe that and I ask you to try to believe that, too."

Miana, who would have turned 15 next month, was buried in the Gerrardstown Presbyterian Cemetery.

[Meg]

I was a friend of Miana's. I rode horses with her everyday last summer. I do not think i have ever known a better person in my whole life. She was absolutly beautiful in every way. Even though i miss her terribly, i would not wish her back to this place if i could, she is in Heaven now, where she belongs, with all the angels and saints and im sure she's riding beautiful horses through the clouds. This man should not have been out of jail, and if he had been delt with when he comited his first crimes he never would have been able to get NEAR poor Miana.

Please pray for Miana's family and friends.

[Jessica]

Miana was my best friend in the whole entire world, and I am very lost and confused right now. I hope that this man gets the death penelty because he deserves this. Miana didn't. No one deserves that kind of treatment when they are that nice, kind, caring, and perfect. I hope everyone who reads this understands how hard this is for everyone, especially all of her friends. and her parents. Please pray for her family!

[.]

Today is Miana's birthday, she would have been 15. There was a wonderful ceremony at Mussleman High School where Miana was a freshman. Everyone was given a candle and Mary and Randy, Miana's parents, started by lighting their candles and then the candles of the other people there. It was beautiful. We all sang happy birthday to her, made a wish, and then blew out the candles. My wish was for the family and friends of Miana to have faith and love in their hearts to carry on in their lives. Miana is watching over all of her friends and family members and is going to make sure they are ok. I know that's what she wants to happen. She was such a beautiful young lady full of love, life, and happiness and regardless of what happens, she is where she belongs, in heaven, watching down over all of us. I myself feel better that she is there and not here because now all that knew Miana have an extra guardian angel to watch over them. Randy, Miana's dad, made a good point tonight at the ceremony. We have to keep Miana's spirit or "legend" as he put it alive as best as we can and as long as we can and for those of us that knew her, that will be forever. We will remember her every day and do what we can do make a positive change or changes out of something so negative. We love you Miana and even more so, Happy Birthday.

[N/A]

As Bad Things Happen To all Of Us I Pray For Both Miana And The Suspects Family. Both sides Lost a Loved One. In Gods Eyes We All Sin. And Not One Is Greater Than The Other. Both Families Are In Our Prayers.

[aymee]

Miana was the nicest, sweetest, most caring girl I have ever met, and most likely will ever meet. She always made everyone smile because of the happiness she always portrayed. I miss her so much, but I try to reassure myself that she is in a better place now. She will forever be in my heart, and her family in my prayers.

I remember when I first met her. We were both in the same homeroom, and many other classes, together in the eighth grade. She was a very intelligent young lady! She also had a way with words. She could write amazing poems and stories. She also helped me out so much when I would ask her how to do something. Miana would do anything for anyone without thinking twice.

Everyone should be a little more like Miana.

[J]

Miana is also one of my good friends...sorry, was...its so hard to get used to that. she made everyone happier. she was so nice and she loved life. i personally thing death should be punnished by death. i only wish the state thought that too. i just hope he spends the rest of his life rotting in jail with the guilt of her death weighing down on his cold heart. that man had no right to do such a horrible thing and his punnishment should be more sever. miana was the greatest person i know/ knew. she was nice to everyone around her and her presence light up the room. i know shes in a better place now, but i would rather have her here with us. she was loved by everyone who knew her and that man would never survive outside of jail if he got out because the people of this community would not let him live freely. miana would not want us to think of the way she died, but instead remember the good times we had together. she would not want us to cry for her, but instead know that she is in heaven.

[anonymous]

I did not have the privalige of knowing this beautiful spirited young lady, but I know one of her close friends and I heard about the tragic story of Miana. I pray for everyone who knew this loving young lady and most of all her family. Dear Lord may Miana rest in piece, Amen.

[april]

This may sound kind of off...but I was actually dating this man when he went to jail here in Virginia...I was only 16 and didnt know any better let alone what he had gone to jail for. He wouldnt give me the details. After a while I decided that I needed to move on and dated other people. Well, I just found out what had happened while I was bored this evening and googled his name. What is even scarier is that he had contacted my mother and wanted me to come and visit him, and it was within a month of this happening. I now have a 3 year old daughter and another little girl on the way. Its scary how it can be anyone out there that is like this. I am grateful that I did not see him back in 2004 and he deserves worst then just being in jail. For the family of this young girl I send my wishes...

[Bevy]

My daughter called me this morning and told me to check my email. I did and when I pulled the link up that she sent me I was totally sickened. I knew that this boy had some problems, I just didn't know how much. This deal with Virginia, I had even talked with the girl in Gloucester that was attacked by him and she informed me that he didn't try to rape her. It was a hot day and he was in one of his moods and she just happened to be walking in front of him. He jumped her and pushed her into the bushes and started choking her. I've seen the pictures. Her neck was all bruised up. When he finally realized what he was doing, he back off and took off. This guy doesn't deserve life, HE DESERVES THE DEATH PENALTY!!! He's use to living in jail with his feet kicked up and probably smoking a cigarette and watching TV. He deserves to die.