UNNAMED BABY BOY - 3 months (2009)/ Charged: Travis Neil Miller - Tampa LF

Tampa man charged with murder, child abuse for 2009 death of 3-month old boy

By Katie Mettler, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 2:09pm

TAMPA — A Tampa man was arrested and charged with murder and child abuse Monday in the 2009 death of a baby boy authorities say he was babysitting.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrested Travis Neil Miller, 28, at his home in the 9000 block of Attenbury Drive in connection with the death of a 3-month-old boy, authorities said. The identity of the child was not released.

Miller faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm and remained in jail Tuesday.

It was unclear why it took nearly six years to make an arrest. Miller was a suspect from the beginning, said sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Carter. The investigation has been ongoing since the incident, she said, and recent developments prompted officials to issue a warrant for Miller's arrest.

On September 13, 2009, the boy's mother, away on a weekend trip, got a phone call from Miller that her child was unresponsive and stopped breathing, Carter said. The mother told Miller to call 911 and went back to the trailer where he was watching her son. Neighbors tried to give the baby CPR while emergency personnel instructed them by phone, but their efforts failed.

The boy was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he died the next day.

The Hillsborough County medical examiner determined the child died of blunt impact to the head and suffered a brain bleed.

Miller has a lengthy criminal record in Hillsborough County and has done two stints in state prison for burglary and grand theft and for drug trafficking. He was arrested in March on a battery charge and released on bond.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/tampa-man-charged-with-murder-child-abuse-for-2009-death-of-3-month-old-boy/2226398?fb_action_ids=1588080734771842&fb_action_types=og.shares