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Tuesday, Aug 24 2010 07:48 PM

Soldier who admitted killing two fellow soldiers gets life in prison

By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN

A Bakersfield woman who pleaded guilty to murdering two fellow soldiers and kidnapping their baby was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Army reported.

Specialist Ivette Davila, 24, a 2003 graduate of West High School, was also reduced in rank, stripped of all her pay and allowances and dishonorably discharged, an Army spokeswoman at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., said.

The sentence was imposed after two days of hearings before military judge Colonel Stephen R. Henley.

He accepted a plea bargain that spared Davila from getting the death penalty in connection with the March 2008 shootings of Staff Sgt. Timothy Miller and Sgt. Randi Miller in the couple's Parkland home.

Officials reported Davila poured muriatic acid over the bodies in a bathtub and took the couple's baby girl unharmed. The child was released to authorities.

Davila said during the court hearings she understood she was killing the couple, but she had no answers for what she did and no answer would excuse her acts.

Earlier news reports said Davila blamed Randi Miller with having a relationship with Davila's ex-boyfriend, but no proof of that was ever established.

U.S. Army Corrections Command will determine Davila's confinement location. Meanwhile, she will be held at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor Brig and Correctional Custody Unit.

Additionally, the verdict and sentence must be reviewed by the General Court-Martial convening authority at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Army said.

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