WHEELING — Amanda Allison, formerly Amanda Carman, was sentenced by Circuit Judge David Sims to serve a maximum of five years in jail, with eligibility for parole after one year, for the gross child neglect of Anorah Schostag’s 3-year-old son.

Schostag was murdered by Will Carman in 2021. In an interview with Wheeling Police, Allison admitted she was aware of her ex-husband’s plans to try and rob Schostag while Allison was at Schostag’s residence.

Allison placed Schostag’s son in danger as the 3-year-old was present in the room when Carman began stabbing Schostag with a knife, exposing the child to a deadly weapon and placing him at serious risk of bodily injury or death.

At Thursday’s sentencing, Sims granted Assistant Ohio County Prosecutor Shawn Turak’s request that Allison’s time under house arrest that began in Jan. 2022 not be counted towards her sentence. Sims did give Allison credit for the 25 days she was incarcerated prior to being placed on house arrest.

Upon release from incarceration, Allison will serve five years of supervised release in addition to being required to register as a child abuse and neglect offender for a period of 10 years.

Assistant Ohio County Prosecutor Shawn Turak said she was “very pleased” with the sentencing as it was “consistent with Amanda Allison’s crimes.”

“The sentencing also considers that you have a 3-year-old child who witnessed something that he will never forget for the rest of his life,” explained Turak. “That fact breaks my heart.”

Turak added she hopes the sentence brings the grandparents of the 3-year-old “one step closer to one day focusing on their grief and only grief.”

Both grandparents gave impact statements at the sentencing, expressing to Sims the irreparable damage Allison had done not only to their grandson but to their family as a whole.

“Amanda Carman was instrumental in taking away our grandson’s mother and making him experience more evils in this world at the age of 3 than most of us will experience in a lifetime,” said grandfather Bill Piccard. “Pure evil manifests itself in Amanda and William Carman, and I pray every morning and every night that our grandson will be healed emotionally and spiritually.”

Outlining that working towards this healing has been difficult, Piccard explained that Schostag’s son will be in and out of therapy for the rest of his life due to the psychological trauma he has suffered.

“He has night terrors that have lasted for hours where he is inconsolable, screaming and crying,” added Piccard.

“Anorah’s death occurred on the second floor of her home, and our grandson hesitates to even go up to his bedroom on the second floor of our house.”

While displaying family photos of Schostag and her son to Sims, Piccard explained that the happiness in the pictures “could never be reproduced ever again.”

“We can’t ever put this picture back together,” Piccard lamented. “We only pray that happiness on his face will come back again.”

Grandmother Jane Hafer recalled all the memories Schostag’s son will not be able to share with his mother, from eating home-cooked meals to playing in the woods.

“He not only lost his mother, but he lost his entire world,” said Hafer. “He lost his home, his toys, his little neighbor friends, his cat Rolo and all the surroundings of the place he called his own home.”

Expressing her remorse for her behavior before and during the death of Schostag in her statement to the judge, Allison explained at the time of the murder, she was in an abusive relationship and did not want Schostag to die.

Adding that she has been clean for two years, Allison said she believes she can now be a better mother to her 3-year-old daughter.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about Anorah and her child,” said Allison to Sims. “I regret most that her son was present today in the murder, and I will live with that regret and guilt of that day for the rest of my life.”

Allison’s attorney, Paul Harris, pointed out in his statement that Allison had “done all the state had asked of her.”

Explaining that it was undisputed that the three adults present in Schostag’s house on the day of the murder were abusing drugs, Harris explained that jail sentences should have a “deterrent effect” on drug abusers, but overall, they are not able to prevent West Virginia’s drug problem.

“There will always be more Anorahs, Amandas and, unfortunately, William Carmans,” said Harris. “There will be more of these people because of the drug situation.”

In her statement to Sims, Turak emphasized that while Amanda Allison may not be responsible for Schostag’s murder, Allison brought “all the drama to Schostag’s doorstep that resulted in the murder.”

“Unlike what Mr. Harris contended, this case is not all about drugs,” added Turak “At the end of the day, we’re talking about an innocent 3-year-old child who is now serving a sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.”

Though Allison vowed that she would “never touch another drug” in her life during her statement, Sims expressed doubt in this promise before delivering the sentence.

Tracing Allison’s history of being in and out of rehab facilities for drug use, Sims emphasized that the three times Allison received treatment, she relapsed and began using drugs again.

“I can’t trust that you won’t use drugs again and that you won’t commit more crimes,” said Sims. “I don’t have anything in your history that would suggest to me that you can stay on the right path.”

Labeling the “most disturbing thing” about Allison’s involvement in Schostag’s murder as she “could have played a hand in preventing the death,” Sims explained at any point, Allison could have left the house and gotten help.

“Unfortunately, your first instinct was to protect William Carman,” said Sims. “When you walked out of the house and called 911, you didn’t say it was William Carman who did it even though he was running away from the house.”

Allison must report to the Northern Regional Jail by next Monday to begin her sentence.