Mom faces charges in boy’s death

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

The Caldwell County Grand Jury decided last week to pursue a case against the mother of a 2-year-old killed by a pit bull dog in Luling in March.

Melissa Miller (a/k/a Melissa Washburn), 24, was indicted last week on two separate counts, Injury to a Child and Criminally Negligent Homicide. The indictment stems from a M

arch 26, 2009, incident when Miller’s son, Tyson, was killed by a dog in the backyard of the home where Miller and her two children were living.

According to Caldwell County District Attorney Trey Hicks, the Grand Jury heard testimony that the adults in the home began searching for the boy when they woke up after noon. Miller said in a television interview shortly after the incident that she had gone back to sleep after sending her older child off to school for the day, but had apparently forgotten to lock the deadbolt on the door before returning to bed.

Hicks said the boy’s body was discovered in the back yard just after 12:30 p.m. by a man who also lived at the residence.

Autopsy reports showed the child died as a result of serious trauma to the head and neck which was inflicted by the dog and caused the boy to bleed to death.

The dog was removed from the premises by Luling Animal Control and was later destroyed.

Jones, of Austin, chose to speak to the Grand Jury before the indictments were returned.

If convicted, Miller faces a sentence for a Second Degree Felony for Injury to a Child, which could result in a sentence of 2 – 20 years behind bars. Criminally Negligent Homicide, a state jail felony, carries a sentence of 18 months to two years.

Both Miller and her attorney, Matt