LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Police suspect the parents of a murdered 4-month-old tried to cover up the crime and may have been planning to bury the body, officers wrote in documents obtained Wednesday by the 8 News Now I-Team.
Miles Stano III died on April 1 from blunt force head trauma, the Clark County coroner’s office said. His manner of death was a homicide. Police said the boy’s parents, Miles Stano Jr., 28; and Lindsey Bello, 22, were the only two people in his care.
The incident was reported at an apartment near Bonanza Road and Maryland Parkway.
Las Vegas Metro police said they responded to a call for a report of a four-month-old who was not breathing and who was “cold to the touch,” they wrote in an arrest report obtained Wednesday.
Police said Bello told them she had put the infant down for a nap, later finding him unresponsive.
During an examination of the child’s body, the coroner noted his “emaciated” appearance, several skull fractures and bruises to his face and arms, police said.
During an interview with police, Bello said the baby had been “lethargic, cranky and cried excessively” over the previous few days. Both parents denied knowing about any cause for the child’s injuries.
Police later interviewed another child who lived in the home. Police asked the child who hurt the baby and the child responded, “Daddy did.” The child also said, “Lindsey made him stop breathing.”
A neighbor told police they noticed a hole in the backyard and “thought they planned the baby’s death and were going to bury him,” police said.
A witness later told police they overheard Bello and Stano “blaming each other for doing something” and that Stano “threw something… against the wall and tried to ‘cover it up.’” Police said.
Stano and Bello each face charges of open murder and child abuse with substantial bodily harm. Both were being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail.
