A man in Oklahoma will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for beating, abusing, and torturing his two young stepchildren for years, killing and burning one of the children while leaving the other malnourished and permanently scarred.
Tulsa County District Judge Clifford P. Smith sentenced John L. Miles III to seven consecutive life sentences in a state correctional facility, one of which was life without parole, plus an additional 55 years for the horrific crimes committed against young Orlando Hugger Jr. and his older sister.
In October 2024, a jury found Miles guilty of one count of first-degree murder by child abuse, two counts of child abuse by torture, four counts of child neglect, one count of child abuse without torture, one count of child sexual abuse, and one count of desecration of a human body.
Last year, Orlando’s mother, Camille Rechae Lewis, pleaded guilty to one count each of child abuse and neglect, second-degree murder, and desecration of a body.
As part of her plea agreement, Lewis testified against Miles at trial. Smith on Friday sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 35 years.
Prosecutors with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office stated that the underlying facts in the case were among the most disturbing they had ever encountered.
“This is the most horrific and gruesome case I have seen in my career as a prosecutor,” Assistant District Attorney Amy Dickens told Tulsa, Oklahoma Fox affiliate KOKI. “The torture, abuse, and neglect these children endured day after day is abhorrent.
We can’t bring back Orlando Hugger, Jr., but we hope this is one step closer to justice for the atrocities he endured.”
Tulsa Police said the case came to light when the children’s grandmother contacted police on Jan. 27, 2023, to file a report about her grandson, claiming he had been missing for several years and was possibly dead. The grandmother also claimed her granddaughter had been the victim of serious ongoing sexual abuse.
The grandmother told investigators that Lewis abandoned her then-13-year-old daughter with her in September 2022, describing the child as “skin and bones from malnourishment,” according to officials. The grandmother also stated that after Lewis left the girl, she informed her mother that the 11-year-old boy had died.
In an interview with detectives, the then-13-year-old girl stated that her mother and stepfather “lock her and her brother in separate closets for days at a time, not feeding them, and beating them with belts and cords.”
“The girl said at times she had to urinate/defecate in a bag/cup in the closet,” according to the news release. “She said sometimes she and her brother would be forced to sleep in an igloo-style doghouse in the backyard and exercise outdoors in very cold weather.”
According to police, the child stated that her stepfather “would offer her food in exchange for sexual favors.”
She also stated that her mother personally informed her of her brother’s horrific death.
“The girl said in March of 2021, she heard her mother crying and begging her brother to wake up,” according to the statement. “The girl said her mother later told her that her brother had a seizure and died, and they did not take him to the hospital because they did not want to be in trouble.”
Orlando died in August of 2021, according to police. Miles and one of his cousins buried the boy’s body in a park, then dug it up and burned it in a barrel before disposing of the ashes in a drainage system, according to the child’s mother.
When officers arrested Camille Lewis on February 7, 2023, they said she admitted to abusing her children and causing the scars on her daughter’s body, but she claimed she hadn’t seen her son since he fled two years before. She later admitted that the boy died in her arms.
“I’m sorry the jury had to see and hear the evidence presented during this trial,” Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney John Tjeerdsma said following Miles’ conviction. “This crime originated from a place of pure evil. We thank the jury and law enforcement detectives for holding John Miles accountable for his crimes.
