Police: 4-month-old baby dies, parents arrested after witness spots grave in backyard

LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - Las Vegas police are investigating a homicide where a 4-month-old baby was found dead inside a home last month.

KVVU reports Miles Stano Jr. and Lindsey Bello were arrested in connection with the death of their child on April 1.

A witness told police they thought the baby’s death was planned and they were going to bury him as a grave was spotted in their backyard a week after his death, according to a police arrest report.

Police said they were originally called on April 1 to a home, with the caller telling them an infant was found cold and not breathing.

The mother, Bello, reportedly put her baby down for a nap that morning and then found him not breathing about six hours later, the arrest report said.

The Clark County Coroner observed multiple bruises and abrasions on the baby and described the child as “emaciated.” The child also had two skull fractures. The boy’s death was ruled a homicide from blunt force trauma, the report said.

Bello told police she was in a relationship with the boy’s father, Stano Jr., for about a year. She said she believed she was “exposed” to methamphetamine and cocaine while pregnant but described the baby as healthy since being born.

The police report said when Bello was told of the injuries to her baby; she said she didn’t know how the child was injured. Bello reportedly asked Stano Jr. about the injuries, but he didn’t know where they came from either.

Bello said she never observed Stano Jr. being rough with the baby, and Stano Jr. said the same about Bello, the report said.

Police said they found the boy’s mattress in a dumpster along with a wipe with blood on it and a bloody blanket.

A witness later told police that Bello said she gave Stano Jr. “permission” to throw the child against a wall, the report said.

Police said that during a polygraph exam on April 2, Bello told them that Stano Jr. had killed the baby. When Stano Jr. did a polygraph, police said he became belligerent, incessantly chanting, “I did not hurt my son.”

A witness told police they overheard Bello saying Stano Jr. killed the baby and she was taking the blame so he could raise his other children, the report said. Other witnesses said they heard Bello say she had killed the baby.

Police said Stano Jr. later reportedly screamed and said he didn’t harm his son and that Bello had lied to him about how his son died. Bello was “calm and jovial” before she was interviewed by police, according to the arrest report, until she realized Stano Jr. was also arrested.

The couple was not granted bail in a court hearing on May 3, according to court records. Their next hearing is currently scheduled for May 10.