Parents in court after son died tied to tree
Pastor Dale Morgan
Parents in court after son died tied to tree*
* Story Highlights
* Couple accused of tying son to tree for two nights as punishment
* They face charges of murder and felony child abuse
* Teen also had bruising to the wrists, cuts to entire body
* Two other children living with couple placed with social services
TARBORO, North Carolina (AP) -- A couple accused of killing their
13-year-old son by tying him to a tree for two nights for punishment
appeared in a North Carolina courtroom Monday to face charges of murder
and felony child abuse.
Brice Brian McMillian, 41, reportedly said the teen was being
disobedient and was forced to sleep outside.
Attorneys appeared Monday with Brice Brian McMillan, 41, and his wife
Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, of Macclesfield.
"It's a sad case," defense attorney Allen Powell, who rerepresents Brice
McMillian, said after the hearing. He declined any further comment, and
the two did not enter a plea.
The county sheriff's office has said Brice McMillan told a deputy the
teen was being disobedient and was forced to sleep outside last Tuesday
while tied to a tree.
The teen was released Wednesday morning, but again tied up that night
for bad behavior.
Sheriff James Knight has said the boy was left tied to the tree until
the following afternoon, when his stepmother found him unresponsive.
Authorities believe the boy was bound to the tree with plastic ties and
possibly other kinds of material.
Arrest warrants for both McMillans said the child sustained "bruising to
the wrist, cuts to entire body, missing flesh from buttocks, results
from being tied to a tree for approximately 18 hours resulting in death."
The warrants didn't reveal a specific cause of death. An autopsy is
pending at the state's chief medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill.
Two other children living in the McMillans in the home, ages 7 and 9,
have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services,
authorities said.
Macclesfield is about an hour east of Raleigh.