Loveless and Miller were convicted of murdering Loveless’ 4-year-old daughter, April Renee Tucker, who died on the operating table after sustaining multiple lacerations, including a severed femoral artery. Loveless and Miller claimed that April had told them she had been attacked and mauled by dogs, but investigators rejected their theory, in large part because April’s wound was a clean cut, lacking the jagged edges one would expect in a dog attack. On November 5, 1989, they were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. While working on their appeal, lawyers for Miller and Loveless found that April’s emergency room and autopsy photos, which had not been turned over the defense prior to the trial, strongly supported the theory that April was attacked by dogs. Furthermore, a key piece of prosecution evidence was found to be flawed: while trying to save April’s life, doctors had cut away some of the damaged skin with scalpels, causing the clean cuts that had been mistakenly attributed to abuse. Based on the prosecution’s failure to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence, Loveless and Miller’s convictions were overturned and they were granted a new trial. Loveless and Miller were released from prison on December 23, 1993; prosecutors elected not to re-try Loveless and Miller for the crime, and formally dismissed the charges against them on May 2, 1994.
