DAVISON COUNTY, WA - A woman and her boyfriend tied her eight-year-old adopted daughter, who was her biological niece, with zip ties and smashed her toes with a hammer when she misbehaved before the young girl died from abuse and starvation.
The woman, 36-year-old Mandie Miller, and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Aleksander Kurmoyarov, reportedly lived with the little girl's body for three months after her death in September 2022 because they "wanted to spend more time with her," Law & Crime reported.
In December 2022, the couple rented a U-Haul, placed a coffin with Meela Miller's little body inside, and drove some 1,100 miles from Spokane to Mitchell, South Dakota. At the time of her death, the girl weighed a mere 26 pounds.
The couple went to a funeral home where they requested the girl to be buried. The couple, however, could not show documents of Meela's death, prompting the funeral home to contact the police. The couple was charged with failure to notify law enforcement of the death of a child in South Dakota before they were extradited to Washington state to face more serious charges.
On Friday, February 6, Miller was sentenced to 32 years in prison, according to the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. She pleaded guilty last month to homicide by abuse, assault of a child, and two counts of unlawful imprisonment. The boyfriend pleaded guilty to murder, assault, and unlawful imprisonment. He will be sentenced on Tuesday, February 10.
"She restrained her for hours upon hours, day after day. Unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them assaulting Meela, and unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them tying her to a car seat with zip ties to restrain her," Spokane County deputy prosecutor Emily Sullivan said at Miller's sentencing.
"The facts before this court are undisputed. They did assault her, they did starve her, they did restrain her, they did torture her, and they did kill her," she added. Also at the sentencing, Meela's biological mother, Andrea Miller, addressed her sister.
"You did this with no remorse, murdering my third child, my beautiful daughter, Meela Rose Miller," Andrea Miller told her sister. "Named after our sister, Amelia Rose Miller, my best friend, my sister and auntie to my children, a Marine who died in 2013 at 23."
Despite the horrible death her daughter suffered, Andrea Miller said she forgave her sister. Judge Rachelle Anderson admonished Miller before sentencing her to two years above what prosecutors had recommended.
"We're here because a little girl was tortured, she was starved, her interests were not protected," Anderson said. "And as a parent, this is the worst crime a person can commit against their own child, their adopted child, their own family member."
Mandie Miller showed minimal remorse, telling the court about her rough childhood in foster care and only briefly addressing her terrible actions. "My daughter did not deserve any abuse or neglect from me," she said. "She most definitely didn't deserve any abuse from Alex."
The woman, 36-year-old Mandie Miller, and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Aleksander Kurmoyarov, reportedly lived with the little girl's body for three months after her death in September 2022 because they "wanted to spend more time with her," Law & Crime reported.
In December 2022, the couple rented a U-Haul, placed a coffin with Meela Miller's little body inside, and drove some 1,100 miles from Spokane to Mitchell, South Dakota. At the time of her death, the girl weighed a mere 26 pounds.
The couple went to a funeral home where they requested the girl to be buried. The couple, however, could not show documents of Meela's death, prompting the funeral home to contact the police. The couple was charged with failure to notify law enforcement of the death of a child in South Dakota before they were extradited to Washington state to face more serious charges.
On Friday, February 6, Miller was sentenced to 32 years in prison, according to the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. She pleaded guilty last month to homicide by abuse, assault of a child, and two counts of unlawful imprisonment. The boyfriend pleaded guilty to murder, assault, and unlawful imprisonment. He will be sentenced on Tuesday, February 10.
"She restrained her for hours upon hours, day after day. Unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them assaulting Meela, and unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them tying her to a car seat with zip ties to restrain her," Spokane County deputy prosecutor Emily Sullivan said at Miller's sentencing.
"The facts before this court are undisputed. They did assault her, they did starve her, they did restrain her, they did torture her, and they did kill her," she added. Also at the sentencing, Meela's biological mother, Andrea Miller, addressed her sister.
"You did this with no remorse, murdering my third child, my beautiful daughter, Meela Rose Miller," Andrea Miller told her sister. "Named after our sister, Amelia Rose Miller, my best friend, my sister and auntie to my children, a Marine who died in 2013 at 23."
Despite the horrible death her daughter suffered, Andrea Miller said she forgave her sister. Judge Rachelle Anderson admonished Miller before sentencing her to two years above what prosecutors had recommended.
"We're here because a little girl was tortured, she was starved, her interests were not protected," Anderson said. "And as a parent, this is the worst crime a person can commit against their own child, their adopted child, their own family member."
Mandie Miller showed minimal remorse, telling the court about her rough childhood in foster care and only briefly addressing her terrible actions. "My daughter did not deserve any abuse or neglect from me," she said. "She most definitely didn't deserve any abuse from Alex."
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