8-year-old child found dead in U-Haul in South Dakota allegedly tied up and beaten with hammer

SPOKANE, Wash. (TCD) — Court documents allege a 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman tied up the woman’s adopted daughter before the girl died, then rode with the body for several weeks.

Mandie Miller and Aleksandr Kurmoyarov were arrested in Mitchell, South Dakota, after they allegedly contacted the local coroner and said they were traveling with the body of Miller’s daughter. Mitchell Police Found Miller and Kurmoyarov at a house “with a U-Haul trailer behind a trailer they said contained a coffin with the body of Miller’s juvenile daughter.”

Kurmoyarov reportedly told police the 8-year-old girl died “just before Halloween 2022” in Airway Heights, Washington. Miller, on the other hand, said the girl died on September 10.

According to Mitchell police, Kurmoyarov said neither he nor Miller contacted police or alerted authorities after the girl’s death because they “wanted to spend more time with her.”

They were first arrested for failing to notify law enforcement of a child’s death. On December 15, Mitchell police said Miller and Kurmoyarov were arrested on warrant in Spokane for homicide by abuse.

According to court documents, Miller and Kurmoyarov reportedly attempted to bury the young girl, Meela Miller, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation “without any documentation documenting her death.” A funeral director reportedly called police in Mitchell, who then contacted police in Airway Heights in Washington, where Miller, Kurmoyarov and Meela lived.

On December 15, an Airway Heights police detective sergeant obtained a warrant to search Miller and Kurmoyarov’s home and found “several different sizes of zip ties, including cut zip ties, and an abundant amount various air freshener type items throughout the home. »

Investigators also reportedly located odor absorbers in Meela’s room.

The court document says a detective working on the case came into contact with a man named Daniel Herrera, who had previously dated Mandie Miller and “considered himself Meela’s father”. Miller allegedly called him on November 16 and told him, “Meela passed away.”

Miller reportedly told Herrera that the girl had chest pains and took her to the doctor, but they sent her home. According to the affidavit, Miller gave Meela a bath when they got back to the doctor, but then she “started throwing up pink vomit” and passed out. Miller said Meela choked on a strawberry milkshake.

Miller and Kurmoyarov reportedly called 911, but it took an hour for the ambulance to arrive. She reportedly performed CPR on Meela, but she died.

Herrera said Miller could be a “hothead with a temper,” but he didn’t think she would abuse Meela. The doctor who performed the autopsy said Meela looked like she had been dead for three weeks, not three months, but if she was in a cool, air-conditioned room, “it’s possible she might have been dead for three months, because the decomposition process would have been slowed down. »

The affidavit says Meela weighed just 26 pounds and had marks on her wrists and ankles “consisting of being tied up or tied to something.”

His manner of death was listed as homicide.

Kurmoyarov reportedly told South Dakota police that he slapped Meela “twice in the face the night she died, and she may have broken her toes because Mandie broke her feet with it.” a hammer “.

Miller allegedly hit Meela with a hammer while she was “playing”.

In another interview, he admitted “having to tie Meela up and even strap her to a car seat the day she died from four to six o’clock.”

Miller reportedly provided several conflicting stories to investigators, including the day Meela died.

Miller and Kurmoyarov are both charged with homicide by abuse, criminal mistreatment and unlawful imprisonment. Spokane County Jail Records show that they are each being held on $1 million bail.

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