Prosecutor Details How Va. Tech Students Plotted Stabbing

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WJZ) -- Plan to kill. Prosecutors reveal a detailed plot to murder a 13-year-old, as one of the two teenagers from Maryland charged in the killing breaks down in court.

It's a crime that's captured the nation's attention: two Howard County teens accused in the brutal slaying of a middle schooler in Virginia.

Her funeral is underway now, and with so many asking why someone would kill her, we have some answers.

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren has the new revelations.

The motive, according to sources, may be that the main suspect did not want his inappropriate relationship with the underage victim exposed, so he lured her from her bedroom.

Heartache at 13-year-old Nicole Lovell's funeral.

"Her smile. Everybody's going to tell you they're going to miss her smile," said Jane Lillian Vance, worked as an instructional assistant at Blacksburg Middle School for Lovell's sixth grade class.

"I will miss her potential. I looked forward to Nicole years from now," she continued.

As Nicole's loved ones say a final goodbye, WJZ is learning new details about her murder and the two teenagers from Howard County charged in it.

They were freshmen at Virginia Tech near the victim's home.

Sources say David Eisenhauer, a promising student athlete, developed an improper relationship with Lovell, and when she threatened to reveal it, he turned to his friend, Natalie Keepers, to help him kill the girl and that Keepers was excited to be part of something "secret and special" with Eisenhauer.

Prosecutors say Eisenhauer and Keepers went to Walmart and bought and shovel and cleaning supplies.

Investigators say they selected an out-of-the-way spot in North Carolina to dump the body and that Eisenhauer lured his young victim from her home and slit her throat.

The two reportedly communicated on an app called Kik. Predators have used it in two recent Baltimore-area cases.

"They're animals, you know, just on the prowl for their next... for their next Nicole," said Terri Lovell, Nicole's stepmother.

A friend of Nicole's says she discovered the relationship weeks before the murder and reported it to school officials, who claim they have no record.

The friend told The Washington Post: "She was talking to him about how they were a cute couple. I was really scared."

"You wouldn't keep your child locked in your house with the alarm set and go out for 12 hours. If they're on social media, you need to be there," said Detective Edward de la Fuente, investigates cyber crime for the Milburn Township Police Department in New Jersey.

Keepers parents traveled from Maryland to testify in court, where their daughter revealed her struggle with mental illness.

She wept before the judge, who denied her bail.

Also in court we learned that Keepers is under psychiatric care. She'd been taking Prozac. Her lawyers complain the food behind bars is not gluten-free and that the mattress she's been sleeping on could aggravate her allergies.

Prosecutors say Eisenhauer was the last person to have with Nicole before her death. She left home with her phone and Minions blanket.