A Washington state woman received a 32-year prison sentence on Friday for the killing of her adopted 8-year-old daughter and subsequently transporting the child’s body across state borders in a rented moving vehicle.
Mandie Miller, 36, was sentenced in Spokane County Superior Court after admitting guilt to charges including homicide by abuse, second-degree assault of a child, and two counts of unlawful imprisonment in the death of Meela Miller, her niece who had also been legally adopted by her. The sentencing followed Miller’s plea agreement, according to KREM.
Miller and her partner, Aleksander Kurmoyarov, were apprehended in December 2022 in South Dakota while en route from Washington State to the Pine Ridge Native American reservation. Law enforcement was alerted after a funeral home reported the pair arrived in South Dakota with a child’s coffin containing Meela’s body, but could not present the necessary burial paperwork, as described in court filings.
Authorities initially charged the couple with failing to report a death, but as the investigation progressed, both Miller and Kurmoyarov faced upgraded charges including second-degree murder. During interrogations, the two offered conflicting accounts regarding the timing of Meela’s passing: Kurmoyarov stated she died on Halloween in Airway Heights, Washington, whereas Miller claimed the death occurred on September 10.
Kurmoyarov told investigators they decided against seeking help or contacting officials because they “wanted to spend more time with her” and were fearful of potential consequences, according to the police report.
A detailed investigation found that Meela had experienced prolonged neglect and abuse, leading to severe malnutrition and her eventual death in September 2022 at Miller and Kurmoyarov’s residence in Washington.
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Emily Sullivan, addressing the court at the sentencing, stated, “[The] defendant neglected, abused and starved an 8-year-old little girl.” Sullivan further noted, “By the time officers in South Dakota found a corpse in a coffin in a U-Haul, [she] weighed only 26 pounds.”
Home security footage presented as evidence revealed Meela had been subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including being bound with zip ties and kept restrained for extended periods.
Sullivan emphasized, “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.”
At the sentencing hearing, Andrea Miller, Meela’s birth mother and the defendant’s sister, delivered an emotional statement condemning Mandie Miller’s actions.
