UPDATE
Feb. 3, 4:15 p..m.
ST. STEPHEN – Charges against a Moores Mills couple in connection with the death of their baby have been upgraded from the earlier charge of concealing a body of a newborn baby.
27-year old Rodney Miller has been charged with first degree murder. 19-year old Sarah Russell has been charged with manslaughter and accessory after the fact.
The police have been able to determine that the baby boy was born sometime between January 5 and January 22, 2009. The RCMP have determined the baby was killed and the body was then hidden. Police have retrieved the body and are continuing to gather evidence as part of the investigation. Further details will be revealed as the case proceeds through the court system.
Both Mr. Miller and Ms. Russell were sent for psychiatric evaluation. They are scheduled to appear again in St. Stephen Provincial Court on March 17, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.
Couple charged in infant's death appear in court
By KATHY BOCKUS
& JOHN GARDNER
Courier Staff
MOORES MILLS – More charges are expected to be laid in court Tuesday, Feb. 3, in what the RCMP are now calling a homicide in connection with the death of a newborn child.
Sarah Marie Russell, 19, and Rodney Stuart Miller, 27, were expected back in court Tuesday afternoon for a bail hearing and at that time are expected to answer to further charges stemming from the RCMP’s investigation.
On Monday, some St. Stephen area citizens were using the Facebook website to organize a demonstration outside the court. By Tuesday morning, the event was listed on Facebook as cancelled.
The sullen looking couple appeared in custody in St. Stephen Provincial Court on Friday, Jan. 30 where they were both charged with disposing of the body of a dead child in an attempt to conceal its birth.
They were remanded to jail by Provincial Court Judge David C. Walker, who denied duty counsel Randy Wilson’s request for their release. The judge ordered Miller and Russell to return on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.
Miller and Russell were seated in the prisoners’ box together and neither spoke during the brief court appearance.
Miller was also charged with aggravated assault. This charge also involved a child, but not the same child, as Crown prosecutor James McAvity was quick to point out. He said the assault had occurred over a period of time between June, 2007 and November, 2007.
The small house on the Valley Road in Moores Mills where the couple lived remained cordoned off over the weekend as investigators from the RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit and members from District 1 continued their investigation.
A spokesman for the RCMP says the sex of the deceased baby and its exact age has not yet been confirmed. An autopsy will be conducted. He said the alleged offense occurred between Jan. 5 and Jan. 22.
News of the charges shocked the St. Stephen community and over the weekend some citizens used the Facebook website as a tool to vent their feelings. Russell and Miller both have pages on the popular website and over the weekend several vitriolic comments were posted by visitors to their sites.
Both Russell and Miller have photos posted online of themselves with an older baby in albums with titles such as “our baby boys pics by sarah and rodney.” Visitors to the site have left comments on some of the photos as well.
The demonstration, organized through Facebook, was being called a “protest to protect our children that god created.” There was some discussion on another Facebook group – “a child is a child” – about an organized turnout in the courtroom.
This is not the first time the RCMP has investigated a case of this nature. In March of 2007, a 26-year-old St. Stephen woman was arrested and charged with disposing of the body of her infant son in an attempt to conceal his birth.
Becky Sue Morrow, who burned the body of her baby after giving birth to him in a toilet in her home, went on trial and in February of 2008 was found criminally responsible for her actions. She was given a 14-month conditional sentence, two months of which she had to spend under house arrest.
Evidence presented to the court at the time indicated that while Morrow’s full term baby was likely born alive, the fact could not be determined conclusively.
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