Mandie Miller adopted her biological niece, Meela Miller, with plans to raise her as her own. Sadly, Miller and her boyfriend, Aleksander Kurmoyarov, abused and neglected Meela so severely that she died at just 8 years old. Police learned of the abuse in December 2022, when Miller and Kurmoyarov went to a funeral home in South Dakota to arrange for Meela’s burial. They told employees they’d traveled from Washington state with their deceased child, but something didn’t seem right. When the funeral home called police, investigators learned the horrific truth about Meela’s life.
According to the Mitchell Police Department at the time, the couple told police they traveled from Airway Heights, Washington, to Mitchell, South Dakota, with Meela’s body. Kurmoyarov and Miller claimed they’d been traveling with her body inside a coffin in a U-Haul trailer because they wanted to spend more time with her. Kurmoyarov told police Meela had died before Halloween, but Miller claimed her death occurred in September. The couple apparently thought they’d get into trouble if they told police what really happened to the girl.
Miller pleaded guilty to abusing Meela on January 14, 2026, KREM reported. The adoptive mother reportedly abused Meela so horrifically that she killed her.
“[The] defendant neglected, abused and starved an eight year old little girl,” Spokane County deputy prosecutor Emily Sullivan said in court, per KREM. “By the time officers in South Dakota found a corpse in a coffin in a U haul weighed only 26 pounds.”
Sullivan shared graphic details of the abuse Meela endured at the hands of those she loved and trusted.
“She restrained her for hours upon hours, day after day. Unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them assaulting Meela, and unbeknownst to them, their home camera system recorded them tying her to a car seat with zip ties to restrain her,” Sullivan said. “The facts before this court are undisputed. They did assault her, they did starve her, they did restrain her, they did torture her, and they did kill her.”
Andrea Miller, Meela’s biological mother, addressed her sister in court. She said she forgives her, but she’ll never forget what happened to her daughter.
“You did this with no remorse, murdering my third child, my beautiful daughter, Meela Rose Miller,” Andrea Miller said, according to KREM. “Named after our sister, Amelia Rose Miller, my best friend, my sister and auntie to my children, a Marine who died in 2013 at 23.”
On February 6, 2026, Judge Rachelle Anderson sentenced Miller to 32 years in prison, as well as three years of “community custody” once she completes her prison term.
“We’re here because a little girl was tortured, she was starved, her interests were not protected,” Anderson said, per the outlet. “And as a parent, this is the worst crime a person can commit against their own child, their adopted child, their own family member.”
Per KREM, Kurmoyarov pleaded guilty to murder, assault, and unlawful imprisonment charges. He avoided life in prison with the plea.
Adopting children and then abusing and killing them is the kind of crime we’ll never understand. Miller will have plenty of time to attempt to make amends with her sister, but nothing will bring Meela back.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
