North East parents plead guilty, no contest in murder of baby with 'catastrophic' injuries

The Erie County District Attorney's Office was never able to definitely prove which parent was responsible for the severe brain damage and other injuries that led to the death of their month-old daughter in July 2020.

Both parents are headed to state prison, nonetheless.

The parents, Lindsay Orton-McIntyre and Logan B. Miller, both 27 and of North East, pleaded guilty and no contest, respectively, to third-degree murder in the death of their daughter, Kaylee Miller.

With the pleas, entered Thursday in Erie County Common Pleas Court, Orton-McIntyre and Miller acknowledged that they murdered their daughter by failing to get prompt medical care for her after she suffered injuries so serious that any parent or other caretaker would have known that she needed medical attention.

The injuries, which a pediatrician described as "catastrophic," occurred at an apartment in the first block of Clay Street in North East, according to the charges.

District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, who is prosecuting the case, said in court that Orton-McIntyre and Miller were not accused of committing first-degree murder and intentionally killing Kaylee. Instead, Hirz said, her office alleged the two parents committed third-degree murder — an unpremeditated killing with malice — by showing "extreme indifference to human life" by failing to seek medical care for their daughter.

By not getting treatment for Kaylee, "it is ignoring a very serious risk," Hirz said.

The unmarried couple entered their pleas before Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla, who accepted the pleas and set sentencing for Oct. 10. Jury selection in the couple's trial had been scheduled to start on Friday.

What's next?

Third-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in state prison. Under the state sentencing guidelines, which account for a defendant's guilty or no contest plea and other factors, Orton-McIntire and Miller are both facing a minimum sentence of six years in the standard range of the guidelines, their lawyers said following the plea hearing.

Orton-McIntyre's lawyer is Brian Arrowsmith. Bruce Sandmeyer represents Miller.

Arrests:North East parents charged with 3rd-degree murder in death of 4-week-old daughter

By pleading no contest, Miller agreed not to challenge the charges. A guilty plea and a no-contest plea are the same for sentencing purposes.

Hirz is expected to ask for sentences longer than the minimum under the standard range, and she is expected to ask Trucilla to apply a two-year sentencing enhancement against both defendants. The enhancement is not mandatory, but Trucilla could order it because Kaylee — the murder victim — was younger than 13 years old.

As part of the plea bargain, the prosecution dropped the two other charges that both Orton-McIntyre and Miller had been facing: one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault, both first-degree felonies.

Criminal complaint:Police: North East mom charged in month-old daughter's death resisted medical care for her

Hirz declined to comment following the plea hearing. She and the defense lawyers will be able to present arguments at sentencing.

Miller and Orton-McIntyre said little at the plea hearing, except to state their pleas and say they understood the proceedings.

Theory of case:North East baby death: Neglect rather than intent at core of charges as parents arraigned

The North East police charged Miller and Orton-McIntyre in March 2021. Miller has been free since posting bail of $100,000 in June 2021. Orton-McIntyre has been unable to make bond of $100,000 and remains at the Erie County Prison.

A case of third-degree murder against both parents

The District Attorney's Office sought third-degree murder convictions from the start of the case.

The evidence showed both parents were the sole caregivers for their daughter, and that the injuries occurred under their care. But neither parent took responsibility for the injuries, according to the criminal complaints, leaving the District Attorney's Office to pursue a case based on what turned out to be the incontrovertible evidence: that the parents were guilty of murder because they failed to seek medical care for their obviously injured child.

Kaylee died at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC on July 28, 2020, after she was transferred there from UPMC Hamot in Erie on July 22, 2020.

The criminal complaint against her parents does not specify how Kaylee was hurt so badly that she suffered extensive bleeding in and around her brain, extensive retinal hemorrhages and a fractured right arm.

Kaylee's brain injuries were so apparent that a pediatric physician at Children's Hospital called them "catastrophic" at the pair's preliminary hearing in May 2021. Any reasonable person would have known to seek swift medical attention for a baby in such a condition, according to the prosecution's case.

Preliminary hearing:Doctor calls slain North East baby's brain injury 'catastrophic'; parents held for court

At the preliminary hearing, the doctor, Carmen Coombs, testified that the injuries were not accidental and that Orton-McIntyre told her she and Miller were the only caregivers for Kaylee, who was born on June 24, 2020.

Kaylee had marijuana in her system when she was born, and Lindsay Orton-McIntyre admitted to smoking marijuana throughout pregnancy, claiming it helped with her nausea, according to the criminal complaint.

More evidence:Police: Positive pot test at birth led to OCY involvement in case of slain North East baby

A 'constellation' of severe injuries to a baby

North East police started their investigation into Kaylee's injuries July 22, 2020, when police responded to a welfare check at a South Washington Street residence where Miller had taken Kaylee, police said.

Miller brought the baby to the residence — where a friend lived — about 10 minutes earlier, according to police.

The baby had been at the apartment of Orton-McIntyre, in the first block of Clay Street, where Orton-McIntyre had lived since July 15, 2020, and where Miller also stayed, according to arrest records. The morning of July 22, 2020, police said in the arrest records, Miller had stopped by the apartment to take the baby to the hospital, but Orton-McIntyre — by her own admission — refused to let him go. Orton-McIntyre later allowed Miller to pick up the baby, and he took the baby to the friend's house and called an ambulance.

Kaylee was taken by ambulance from the residence to UPMC Hamot and then transferred to Children's Hospital.

At UPMC Children's Hospital, physicians cataloged the baby's injuries. In addition to the blunt force trauma to the head, she suffered, according to the affidavit of probable cause attached to the criminal complaint, bleeding to the brain, hemorrhaging of both retinas, swelling of the spinal cord and a fracture of the right wrist "with no signs of healing."

One of the consulting physicians said the "constellation of these severe injuries would not be explained by an underlying medical condition and resulted from physical child abuse," according to the affidavit.

Another North East case:'She starved this baby': North East mom sentenced to state prison for neglect of son

Pending case:DA seeks 1st-degree murder conviction against Corry mom in toddler son's starvation death

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Baby's parents plead guilty, no contest to her murder in North East