Following his premature birth in December, the baby boy weighed under 2 pounds, had “heart problems,” apnea and required a feeding tube, his parents told Las Vegas police.
Miles Stano III was eventually released from University Medical Center in March. But exactly a month later, the baby was dead from a broken skull, and had extensive bruising on his head and some cuts, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, which accused his parents of killing the 3-month-old.
A Clark County coroner’s office examiner said the baby must have been hit with a hard object, against a hard object, or had his head stomped, according to the parents’ arrest report.
Miles Stano Jr., 28, and Lindsey Bello, 22, were jailed Thursday on counts of murder and child abuse following their son’s April 1 death.
Police cited the parents’ alleged strange behavior after they were told the boy had been killed by someone, inconclusive and deceptive polygraph test results, and the fact that they were the only people whose care the boy was under around the time of his death, according to their arrest reports.
In multiple interviews with homicide detectives, the parents denied knowing how Miles was injured or by whom, the report said.
Bello told detectives that before their last interview the day of the arrest, they had agreed to being a “united front” so that neither “would get in trouble” with the police, according to the report.
Bello said that she went to check on her sleeping baby and that he was not breathing and cold to the touch, police said. The boy died at the residence.
She told detectives she fed him about 6 a.m. and that he went back to sleep, police said. He was still breathing about 10 a.m., she said.
But when she checked on him again nearly three hours later, he was “unresponsive,” she told police.
The medical examiner told detectives that the injuries the baby suffered tend to cause immediate death, police said.
Police secured a mattress pad they found in a dumpster, a bloodied wipe and swabs, Bello’s sweatpants that had apparent blood stains and the baby’s pajama pants, the report said.
The couple remained jailed without the possibility of bail.
Parents accused of killing their 3-month-old boy
Miles Stano Jr., 28, and Lindsey Bello, 22, were jailed Thursday on counts of murder and child abuse following their son’s April 1 death.
A couple was arrested after their four-month-old was found dead in their home. A witness told police the couple dug a grave in their backyard a week after the boy’s death, an arrest report said.
The Clark County Coroner observed multiple bruises and abrasions on the baby and described the child as “emaciated,” the report said. The child also had two skull fractures. The boy’s death was ruled a homicide from blunt force trauma, the report said.
Bello said she was in a relationship with the father Stano Jr. for about a year. She told police she believes she was “exposed” to methamphetamine and cocaine while pregnant after being drugged but described the baby as otherwise fine since coming home from the hospital.
When Bello was told of the injuries to the baby, she said she didn’t know how the child got the injuries, the report said. Bello reportedly asked Stano Jr. about the injuries but he didn’t know where they came from either. Bello said she never observed Stano Jr. being rough with the baby and Stano Jr. said the same about Bello, the report said.
Police found the boy’s mattress pad in the dumpster along with a wipe with blood on it and a blanket with blood on it, the report said. A witness later told police that Bello said she gave Stano Jr. “permission” to throw the child against a wall, the report said. This same witness also saw a grave dug in the couple’s backyard on April 7, stating they thought the baby’s death was planned and they were going to bury him, the report said.
During a polygraph exam on April 2, Bello told police that Stano Jr. killed the baby, but that she “couldn’t imagine” he harmed him, the report said. When Stano Jr. did a polygraph, police said he became belligerent, incessantly chanting “I did not hurt my son” and rocking back and forth, the report said.
A witness told police they overheard Bello saying Stano Jr. killed the baby and she was taking the blame so he could raise his other children, the report said. Other witnesses said they heard Bello say she had killed the baby.
Arrest report: Grave dug in Las Vegas couple’s backyard after 4-month-old found dead
A couple was arrested after their four-month-old was found dead in their home. A witness told police the couple dug a grave in their backyard a week after the boy’s death, an arrest report said.
The couple was arrested April 28. Stano Jr. reportedly screamed and said he didn’t harm his son and that Bello had lied to him about how his son died, the report said. Bello “appeared calm and jovial” before she was interviewed by police, the arrest report said, and wasn’t upset when she was arrested until she realized Stano Jr. was also arrested, police said.
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