A Texas woman will spend decades behind bars after a jury found she severely abused her middle-school-age stepdaughter, forcing the girl to live in isolation, chaining her inside a bedroom and denying her regular access to food.
Marianna Miles, 46, was sentenced Friday to up to 70 years in prison after being convicted of injury to a child — causing serious mental injury, according to the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office.
Miles had taken custody of the girl and her four brothers after both biological parents were sent to prison on unrelated charges. The abuse came to light in 2022 when Miles enrolled the girl at Connally Junior High School in Elm Mott, near Waco.
During a meeting with school officials, Miles described the child as having “severe behavior problems” and said she needed to be “watched closely at all times.” Prosecutors said Miles also told staff that the girl could not eat without her “express approval.”
School employees quickly grew concerned, but not for the reasons Miles suggested. They described the student as “well-behaved and polite,” though “unkempt with inadequate clothing.”
“Educators also noticed that the child was thin and always hungry, even going so far as to rummage through garbage cans for food,” prosecutors said.
In October 2022, a teacher spotted an injury on the girl’s face. Initially reluctant to speak, the child later told authorities that Miles had beaten her with a belt buckle. The teacher contacted Child Protective Services and the Lacy Lakeview Police Department.
When officers visited the home, they found the girl confined to a “sparse” bedroom without a mattress. An alarm was attached to the door that would sound if she tried to leave. According to courtroom reporting by KWTX, the girl testified that during the pandemic, she was forced to stay in her room for up to 20 hours at a time.
Prosecutors said Miles not only beat the child herself but also forced the girl’s brothers to participate in the abuse. “Miles also bound the child in both duct tape and, ultimately, heavy chains,” prosecutors said.
Although Miles initially denied using chains, investigators found them inside the home. A child psychologist later testified that the victim suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Miles told the court she restrained the girl because she allegedly ran away, attempted suicide three times, and posed a threat to younger siblings. “Our greatest privilege as prosecutors is to hold accountable those who perpetrate evil against those who are most vulnerable,” assistant district attorneys Tara Avants and Will Hix said in a statement.
“This case exemplifies that. If convicted criminals were treated in the manner that Marianna Miles treated this child, prison authorities would be subject to prosecution. We are grateful to the real-life superheroes at Connally Junior High School, CPS and the Lacy Lakeview Police Department who made it possible to bring justice to an offender who earned every minute of her 70-year sentence.”
Miles will be eligible for parole after 15 years, though prosecutors say they plan to oppose her release. The girl, now 16, is living with her mother and siblings in Killeen.
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