Mom pleads guilty to abusing, killing 8-year-old daughter, attorneys ask for 30 years in prison

A 36-year-old Airway Heights woman will serve 30 years in prison for abusing and killing her adopted 8-year-old daughter, if a judge follows a plea agreement she reached with prosecutors.

Mandie R. Miller pleaded guilty Wednesday to homicide by abuse, second-degree child assault and two counts of unlawful imprisonment in the death of Meela Miller in 2022.

Miller’s boyfriend, 31-year-old Aleksandr Kurmoyarov, pleaded guilty in 2023 to second-degree murder, second-degree assault and three counts of unlawful imprisonment for his involvement in Meela’s death. He agreed to testify against Miller.

The couple was arrested in December 2022 in South Dakota after they transported the girl’s body in a casket from Airway Heights to the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in that state, where they intended to bury her, according to court documents.

Meela was Miller’s niece and adopted daughter.

A funeral home on the reservation contacted a coroner, who then called police when a member of the funeral home noticed suspicious behavior from the couple.

Officers contacted the couple at the residence of Miller’s mother in Mitchell, South Dakota. Miller told police the girl’s body was in the back of the U-Haul trailer.

After their December 2022 arrest in South Dakota, the couple was transferred the following month to the Spokane County Jail, where they have resided the past three years.

In July 2022, the couple and the 8-year-old girl moved into a Redding Drive home in Airway Heights, according to court documents.

Kurmoyarov said Miller became increasingly controlling. He said Miller was in charge of punishing Meela, and he only punished her at Miller’s direction.

The couple would restrain the child for long periods , Kurmoyarov said. Miller eventually pulled the girl out of school, at which point the “discipline” progressed.

They would restrain the girl in a car chair for longer and longer periods of time, eventually only releasing her to bathe her and change her clothes, Kurmoyarov said.

A physician who performed the autopsy on Meela noted lesions on her wrist and both ankles consistent with being tied up. She was clearly malnourished and weighed 26 pounds, the doctor told police.

Neighbors, social workers and school counselors had contacted police repeatedly regarding their concerns about the girl’s living situation.

Kurmoyarov said Miller would hit the girl with a hammer and rubber mallet. She also would spray chemicals in the girl’s eyes and gouge at them, he said.

Miller restricted Meela’s food, eventually only giving her water, according to Kurmoyarov.

The girl lost weight and became weaker until she died in early September 2022.

They left the girl’s body in her bedroom for about a week until she started to decompose, then put her body in a plastic storage tote, which they used to transport her to South Dakota.

The couple’s story of how Meela died and what happened to her has changed multiple times since their arrest.

Miller’s standard sentence range for the homicide by abuse charge, the most serious of the charges, is 24 to 32 years, with the prosecution and defense settling on 30 years.

Miller wore gray jail clothing, glasses and long brown hair to her plea hearing Wednesday.

Miller’s attorney, Zachary Wiedman, a Spokane County public defender, asked the court that media not photograph Miller during Wednesday’s hearing because any identifying information could pose a risk to her while incarcerated. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson ruled that media members could take photos of Miller, but not of her face.

Miller, who has no prior felonies, is scheduled to be sentenced by Anderson Feb. 6. People are expected to deliver victim impact statements, Anderson said.

Kurmoyarov is set to be sentenced March 6 by Superior Court Judge Michelle Szambelan.

Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of 23 years in prison for Kurmoyarov.