Mandie Miller: Washington Woman Sentenced to 32 Years in Prison in Death of 8-Year-Old Adopted Daughter

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A Washington woman has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison for killing her 8-year-old adopted daughter in 2022

On January 14, 2026, Mandie Miller, 36, pleaded guilty to homicide by abuse, second-degree child assault, and two counts of unlawful imprisonment in the death of Meela Miller, her niece and adopted daughter.

Less than a month later, on February 6, 2026, a Spokane County judge sentenced Miller to 32 years in prison, exceeding the sentence prosecutors had requested.



The case came to light in December 2022, when the couple arrived at a funeral home in Mitchell, South Dakota, with a coffin inside a U-Haul trailer. 

However, when the staffs there discovered that the couple did not have the required paperwork for burial, they immediately alerted police who later confirmed the coffin contained Meela’s remains 

During interviews with police, the couple gave conflicting accounts of when the child died. Mandie's boyfriend, Kurmoyarov claimed Meela passed away on Halloween 2022, while Miller told officers the girl died earlier, on September 10, 2022. 

After an extensive investigation, detectives uncovered that Meela Miller died in September 2022 at her home in Airway Heights, Washington, after months of abuse and starvation.

Investigators later determined that Miller and her boyfriend, Aleksander Kurmoyarov, 31, failed to seek medical help or notify authorities after the child’s death. 

Instead, they continued living in the home with Meela’s body for weeks, and later transported the child’s body more than 1,000 miles inside a U-Haul trailer, months after the girl had died, as reported by PEOPLE.

Additionally, surveillance cameras inside the home captured the abuse.

“The defendant neglected, abused and starved an 8-year-old little girl. By the time officers in South Dakota found a corpse in a coffin in a U-Haul, she weighed only 26 pounds,” said Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Emily Sullivan during sentencing.

One of the disturbing footage showed Meela being restrained for long periods, including being tied to a car seat with zip ties.

“They did assault her, they did starve her, they did restrain her, they did torture her, and they did kill her,” Sullivan said.





After a lengthy trial, Spokane County Judge Rachelle Anderson imposed a 32-year prison sentence, two years longer than prosecutors had requested under the plea deal.

“A sentence on the high end speaks to how significant a loss it is that Meela Rose is no longer with us,” Anderson said in court, as per New York Post. 

Several family members addressed the court, including Meela’s uncle, Elijah, who described the moment he learned what happened.

“My little niece was gone, found in a U-Haul,” he said. “The people responsible were individuals I never believed capable of such heinous acts,” he added.

Meela’s biological mother, Andrea Miller, also spoke, condemning her sister while offering forgiveness.

“You did this with no remorse, murdering my third child, my beautiful daughter, Meela Rose Miller,” she said. “I forgive you, and I pray this never happens to another child,” she added. 

Miller also addressed the court, referencing her own childhood in foster care and acknowledging her role in Meela’s death.

“My daughter did not deserve any abuse or neglect from me,” she said.
“She most definitely didn’t deserve any abuse from Alex.”

Kurmoyarov, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree assault, and three counts of unlawful imprisonment, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 10, 2026. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to testify against Miller.

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