The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

July 2, 2008

McMillians hearing postponed

Couple now has separate lawyers and court dates

T. J. ROYAL

Brice and Sandra McMillan's probable cause hearing today in connection with the death of 13-year-old Tyler McMillan has been postponed.

Sandra McMillan's next court date will be Aug. 7. Brice McMillan's next appearance in Edgecombe County District Court will be Dec. 27.

The couple each face one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony child abuse with serious bodily injury.

Arrest warrants for Brice, 41, and Sandra McMillan, 36, stated the boy was found with bruises on his wrists, cuts on his entire body and missing flesh from his buttocks.

Tyler McMillan was unresponsive when a sheriff's deputy found him tied to a tree at 1110 Felton Farm Road in Macclesfield at 4:30 p.m. June 12.

He was taken to Heritage Hospital in Tarboro, where he was pronounced dead. Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said he had been left tied to the tree for two nights before his death.

Knight said Brice McMillan was taken into custody at the residence on June 12 while Sandra McMillan was taken into custody later that night in Farmville by the Farmville Police Department.

While Brice McMillan's next appearance is in District Court, Sandra McMillan will make an appearance in Edgecombe County Superior Court on her count of first-degree murder. Her count of felony child abuse will be heard in District Court.

The couple's first Edgecombe County court appearance was June 16. They retained separate attorneys at that hearing, with Greenville's Keith Williams representing Sandra McMillan and Raleigh's Whit Powell representing Brice McMillan.

The couple still have separate attorneys, but Sandra McMillan is now represented by Wilson's Tom Sallenger.

The Edgecombe County District Attorney's Office would not comment on the case.

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