“SHE WAS JUST HURTING HERSELF”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PROSECUTORS SAY TERRIE A. GRAY ABUSED FOUR-YEAR-OLD ATHENA ROSE DENISE MILLER UNTIL SHE DIED IN LEESVILLE, LOUISIANA… AND ON AUGUST 25, GRAY WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE PLUS 40 YEARS IN PRISON.
On August 25, 49-year-old Terrie A. Gray received a sentence of life without parole plus 40 years in prison.
The sentence was handed down for the killing of four-year-old Athena Rose Denise Miller.
Athena had been discovered unconscious on a bedroom floor.
She was wearing only a diaper.
The four-year-old girl had blood on her face.
She had sustained burns across her face and neck.
She had broken bones.
She was also found to have suffered a bilateral brain bleed.
Athena’s two-year-old brother was also found bruised inside the residence.
The two-year-old boy smelled of urine and feces.
Athena and her brother had gone to live with their biological father, Logan Miller.
They resided with Miller and his girlfriend, Gray, inside a home located in Leesville, Louisiana.
Prosecutors described the children’s foul-smelling bedroom as “dungeon-like.”
The room contained a mattress placed directly on the floor.
Blood stains were found nearby.
The door to the bedroom was fitted with a padlock.
Investigators discovered old food throughout the residence.
They also found cat waste throughout the house.
A forensic pathologist examined Athena’s body following the discovery.
The pathologist identified both recent and older injuries across her body in different stages of healing.
Athena’s hair appeared to have been pulled out.
Hot liquid reportedly caused the burns found on her face and neck.
She had an infected shoulder fracture that had gone untreated for weeks.
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Athena was taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.
She died the day after she was hospitalized.
Her cause of death was determined to be cardiopulmonary arrest.
She died from bleeding inside both sides of her brain.
She also died from injuries caused by child abuse.
During the criminal trial, Gray’s daughter took the stand to give evidence.
The daughter testified that she saw her mother slap Athena.
She testified that she saw Gray pull the child’s arms behind her back.
She told the court that Gray blamed the child’s injuries on Athena hurting herself.
Another witness also testified about Gray’s actions inside the home.
That witness stated that she saw Gray drag the four-year-old girl down a hallway by her hair.
And the witness testified that Gray and Miller denied food to both children.
Jurors in the trial viewed autopsy photographs of the young victim.
The jury heard three days of trial testimony.
Then jurors required only five minutes of deliberation to reach their guilty verdicts.
The jury convicted Gray of first-degree murder.
They also convicted her of two counts of second-degree cruelty to juveniles.
The mandatory life sentence carries no possibility of probation or parole.
The additional 40-year prison term must run consecutively to the life term.
But charges remain pending against the children’s biological father.
Logan Miller faces first-degree murder charges.
Miller also faces child-cruelty charges involving both children.
His trial is scheduled to begin in October.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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