Two Condemned East Texas Killers Lose Appeals

HOUSTON (AP) – The convictions and death sentences of two men for murdering small children in East Texas have been upheld by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Blaine Milam, pictured here, was condemned for the 2008 beating death of his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter at his trailer in Rusk County. Evidence showed the child was bitten some 30 times and beaten with a hammer. In the second case, Demontrell Miller, 25, was sent to death row for the 2008 beating death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son while he was babysitting the boy and his own 5-month-old son at a Tyler apartment complex. The court Wednesday rejected what attorneys for the convicts said were 20 errors at Milam’s trial and 28 at Miller’s trial. Neither man has an execution date and both could pursue federal appeals.