Marines to Review Child-Killing Sentence

A sergeant stationed at the Tustin Marine Corps helicopter base has been sent to Camp Pendleton to await review of a three-year sentence of hard labor handed down by a military panel on charges of killing his 10-month-old daughter last April.

Sgt. Michael Joseph Miele, 28, was sentenced by the military panel on Wednesday, Lt. Timothy Hoyle said. Miele was also demoted to private and had his total pay forfeited. Miele will also be given a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps upon completion of his sentence, Hoyle said.

Miele was accused of killing his daughter, Amelia Lynn Miele, last April when he struck her over the head with the butt of a pool cue. An autopsy revealed the infant died of blunt-force trauma. The Marine told authorities he had hit his daughter because she was crying.

At the time of the incident, Miele’s wife was horseback riding. The couple’s 4-year-old son was in the house but did not witness the incident.

The Marine Corps conducted an Article 32 investigation of the child’s death, the equivalent of a grand jury probe. The results of the investigation were given to Maj. Gen. John I. Hudson, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in El Toro, who concluded Miele could be court-martialed.

The panel of Marine officers who heard Miele’s court-martial on Nov. 8 cleared him of charges of murder but convicted him of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Hoyle said Miele will remain at the Camp Pendleton compound while Hudson reviews the soldier’s conviction and sentencing.

“He is also entitled to other automatic appeals under our system,” Hoyle said.