Father Slain by Son Had Lost Custody of Boys : Shooting: Boys were in care of grandparents. Father had been under court order not to discipline them.

A Chula Vista man who reportedly spanked his 13-year-old son for hiding a poor grade and was later shot to death by the youth, had been under court order not to discipline his children, Superior Court records state.

Lepolious Miller III, 36, also required supervision during visits with his two sons, who had been living with Miller’s parents since October, 1989, records show. The boys had often stayed with their grandparents since 1983.

Miller’s mother, Mildred Grier, had accused her son in July 1990 of beating Lepolious Miller IV and his 12-year-old brother, according to her application for a temporary restraining order.

The request for the restraining order followed Miller’s arrest by National City police on suspicion of child endangerment and child abuse, and was granted Aug. 1, 1990.

Miller was detained for several days after the arrest and released, police said. The charges were dismissed.

The shooting occurred Monday during a supervised visit when Miller admonished his son, a seventh-grade student at Granger Junior High School, for hiding a report card. The boy and father reportedly argued repeatedly during the course of the afternoon. The dispute ended when the teen-ager allegedly fetched a revolver from an upstairs room and shot his father once in the chest. Lepolious IV has been charged with murder.

According to police, the elder Miller administered a mild spanking to the boy and later suggested he attend remedial courses to make up a failing mark in science class. Several hours elapsed between the spanking and the shooting, including a break for a three-hour basketball practice, which the father attended and from which he gave his son a ride home.

An attorney who represented Miller last year at a hearing for temporary custody of the children described his former client, who ran an automobile restoration business, as “conscientious” and a man who “genuinely wanted to be a good father.”

“He must have been under a lot of turmoil,” attorney Joseph Montegna said in an interview Thursday. “Here he was, buying cars, fixing ‘em up and selling ‘em, just going like a madman as he tried to provide for his family. And his own mother was trying to take his kids away.”

Miller had been awarded custody of the boys after divorcing their mother, Marsha Christine Wallace, in 1985, according to court documents from El Paso County, Colo. Wallace lives in the San Diego area, but has had little contact with her children, police said.

Miller agreed in August, 1990, to grant his mother temporary custody of the boys, but wrote in a declaration submitted to court that he was maintaining close relations and hoped to eventually bring the children home if the court allowed.

“The agreement between myself and my mother was that . . . the children . . . would live with her until I could find suitable housing,” Miller wrote. “I acquired such a home, but then it was decided that, in order to not disturb the children . . . in the middle of the school year, that they should remain with my mother until school lets out in June, 1990.”

And as the children went on school vacation that summer, Miller reportedly tried to take them from the Grier household in a quiet neighborhood in northeast National City, said Barbara L. Davis, an attorney representing the boy.

The children resisted, and a fight broke out between the elder Miller and his brother, Davis said Thursday.

“He (Miller) apparently abused the younger brother during the incident,” Davis said. “He had a tendency to take it out on the children,” adding that Miller reportedly had a history “of abusive behavior, both physical and verbal.”

Davis spoke on behalf of the youth at a detention hearing Thursday and has previously represented the Griers in child custody hearings and the restraining order matter.

Last year a Superior Court judge recommended that the guardianship matter be reviewed three months after the restraining order took effect. Both Miller and the grandparents were to be considered. The Griers were awarded custody in February, and Miller let his attorney go.

Miller’s case self-destructed, Montegna said, when his client took the witness stand.

“He got up in court and said in his own defense, ‘I have not hit my children in well over a year,’ ” Montegna said. “It didn’t take much more than that; the hearing ended. The judge awarded custody to the grandmother.”

Montegna said Miller did not specify whether the previous hitting involved spanking or harsher corporal punishment or physical abuse.

“He could have said he spanked his children on the butt like any father would do,” Montegna said, “but he never explained this in court.”

Montegna said Miller wanted to pursue the custody matter further, but was not able to pay attorney’s fees.

“He was fighting it out, everyday,” Montegna said, “trying to make a life. Seemingly he was going to win. To me, he was doing the best he could.”

The district attorney’s office said many unresolved issues remain in the investigation of the killing. Prosecutors said they would try to piece together the varying accounts of intergenerational strife.

“It’s frightening when a good kid does something like this,” said Carlos Armour, deputy district attorney in charge of the juvenile court division. “Sometimes we jump to the conclusion that it’s the father’s fault and paint a dark picture of him, when it’s not true. There’s still lots of questions.”

In court, Lepolious IV sat next to his attorney, body crunched forward, silent except for an occasional sniffle picked up by the courtroom P.A. system.

The hearing to determine whether the boy will be released while court appearances continue was rescheduled for Nov. 5. Lepolious IV remained in custody.

His attorney also requested permission for the youth to attend the funeral of his father Monday. The request was granted, the sniffling now soft whimpers.