Inset: Aaron J. Moran (WVDCR). Background: The area in West Virginia where Moran and the victim lived (Google Maps).
A 43-year-old father in West Virginia is going to prison for killing his 11-year-old daughter, who weighed just 43 pounds when she was fatally starved and neglected last year.
Aaron James Moran pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of death of a child by a parent, guardian, person in a position of trust by child abuse, records show. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed additional charges of murder and child neglect.
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Shannon Robinson, the victim’s 51-year-old stepmother and primary custodian, is still awaiting trial on charges of murder of a child by a parent or guardian by refusal as well as child neglect resulting in death. A man referred to as the girl’s “psychological brother,” Tyler Levi Carter, has also been charged with Miana’s murder.
Prosecutors have alleged that Moran knowingly permitted Robinson to neglect or refuse to care for his daughter Miana Moran by failing to provide her with necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, and medicine.
As Law&Crime previously reported, deputies responded to the family’s residence in the 200 block of Nector Street in Grafton on Feb. 16, 2025, after emergency medical personnel reported finding an unresponsive child. Miana was lying on the kitchen floor, wearing a pull-up diaper and appearing “extremely small for her age, severely underweight, and malnourished.”
Medical personnel transported Miana to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy found that Miana was 47 inches tall and weighed 43 pounds, which the medical examiner described as “grossly inconsistent with her chronological age.” She also had head lice, a yellowish tint to her skin, extreme thinness with protruding bones, and multiple bruises and lacerations on her torso and extremities.
The autopsy determined that Miana died from bilateral, diffuse, acute bronchopneumonia, with failure to thrive listed as a contributing factor.
Investigators previously alleged that Moran and his former wife, Shannon Robinson, isolated Miana from family and friends beginning in 2024 as the girl’s health deteriorated. She eventually became unable to walk without assistance and spent most of her time sleeping.
Starvation was also used as punishment, authorities said.
“Further investigation revealed that food deprivation was used as a method of punishment toward [the victim],” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Witnesses stated that if [the victim] resisted or ‘pushed back’ against Ms. Robinson, she would be denied food or provided only minimal nourishment for extended periods, while other household members consumed full meals in her presence.”
Investigators also alleged that Miana had not received medical care since 2020, shortly after she began living full-time with Robinson following Robinson and Moran’s divorce.
Moran’s plea agreement requires him to testify against Robinson in her pending trial, according to a report from Charleston, West Virginia, Fox and ABC affiliate WCHS.
Robinson has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from Miana’s death. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
Moran is facing 15 years to life in prison. The judge ordered a presentence investigation before setting Moran’s sentencing for a later date.
The post Dad who starved 11-year-old and made her watch as family ‘consumed full meals’ before she died will testify against his ex-wife first appeared on Law & Crime.
