Man who admitted to killing 11-month-old Mercedes Lain pleads guilty

STARKE COUNTY, Ind. (WIBC) — The antheral who admitted to sidesplitting an 11-month-old miss this twelvemonth successful bluish Indiana has accepted a plea agreement.

In a courtroom Monday, Justin Miller told a justice helium was babysitting Mercedes Lain — his cousin’s girl — in August. They were astatine his girlfriend’s flat erstwhile helium was precocious connected marijuana and got into a combat with his girlfriend.

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When Mercedes got upset, Miller said helium backhanded the small girl, which caused her caput to deed the wall. He past gave her a vessel to calm her down. Miller said helium and his woman got into different fight, Mercedes got upset again, and Miller smacked the miss a 2nd time.

The adjacent morning, Mercedes was dead.

Miller said helium wrapped the girl’s assemblage successful a blanket, drove to a wooded country adjacent the Starke-Marshall region line, and buried the girl’s body.

As portion of the plea agreement, Miller would plead blameworthy to 1 number of murder. The justice hasn’t accepted the plea statement yet. That determination volition beryllium made Jan. 18. If the justice does, Miller could inactive look 45-to-65 years successful prison.