Tustin : Military Investigation of Baby’s Death Concludes

Investigators have concluded the military equivalent of a grand jury probe into the death of a 10-month-old baby who was fatally injured last March on the Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin.

Lt. Timothy Hoyle said that results of the Article 32 investigation of Sgt. Michael Miele, 28, in connection with the bludgeoning death of his daughter, Amelia Lynn Miele, have been turned over to Maj. Gen. John I. Hudson, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in El Toro. Hudson will decide whether Miele will face a court-martial.

Miele, now being held in pretrial confinement at Camp Pendleton, was initially charged with first-degree murder, as well as assault on his wife and 4 1/2-year-old son. Tustin city police and military police have “joint jurisdiction” in the case because the March 30 incident took place at the family home on the Tustin base, Hoyle said.

According to Tustin Police Lt. H.D. Williams, who investigated the case with military police, Miele told authorities that he struck his daughter with a pool cue because the infant was crying. An autopsy concluded that the child died as a result of a blunt-force trauma.