Baltimore Man Accused of Killing his Girlfriend’s 7-Month-Old Baby Rejects Plea Offer

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A 26-year-old Baltimore man accused of killing a 7-month-old baby rejected a plea offer of 35 years with five years on probation on Jan. 11 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer

Herbert Miller is charged two counts of first-degree child abuse, second-degree murder, and second-degree child abuse in connection to an incident on Dec. 22, 2019. 

On Tuesday, Judge Schiffer listened as the prosecutor presented a plea of 50 years suspending all but 35 years with five years probation for first-degree child abuse. 

Miller and a state’s attorney for the department of social services rejected the plea offer. 

According to the Baltimore Sun, on Dec. 22, 2019, at approximately 10 p.m., 7-month-old Harlem Phillips was taken to John Hopkins Pediatric Hospital after reportedly falling off a couch in Northeast Baltimore, the baby was unresponsive and unconscious. 

On Christmas morning, Phillips died at the hospital. The child’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiners. 

Miller’s trial is scheduled for July 12 with Judge Gregory Sampson presiding.

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