Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 01/18/08

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook Deputy District Attorney: Charles Arden

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

CHILD KILLER DENIED PAROLE

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that on January 17, 2008, Robert Mills, convicted in 1990 of the first degree murder of a 25 month-old child, was denied parole for at least another five years.

District Attorney Passalacqua said, “The killing of a toddler, while causing her extreme suffering over a period of months, is unimaginable. The Parole Board agreed with our stance that Mills was not fit to be released into the community.”

In December 1987, Mills began living with Nancy Strong and her 2 year old daughter, Carrie Anne. In 1988, a roommate living with Mills and Strong noticed Mills striking Carrie Anne on a number of different occasions. Over a three-month period, the little girl suffered brutal physical abuse. In the last weeks of her life, witnesses said that she was walking as if she were drunk and trembled. On June 29, 1988 while Mills was at home with the child, he called 911 claiming she “was not breathing.” Emergency personnel found the girl lying prone across Mill’s bed. She was not breathing, had numerous bruises to her face and to part of her head and a split lip, all in various stages of healing. She died the next day. An autopsy discovered evidence of extreme, prolonged physical abuse. Mills denied doing anything to the little girl, claiming that “she fell out of bed and hit her head on the night stand.”

Mills was convicted by a Sonoma County jury in February 1990 of first degree murder and corporal injury to a child. He is currently housed at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, CA.

On January 17, 2008 , the Parole Board conducted a hearing to evaluate whether Mills was suitable for release. The District Attorney’s Office was represented by Deputy District Attorney Charles Arden, who argued against Mill’s release stating that he poses a high risk of violence in the community. The Board agreed and denied his release for five year period, the maximum period allowed.