Politics & Government

Seal Beach Army Officer Court Martialed in Child's Homicide

The officer is found guilty of negligent homicide in the child abuse death of his one-year-old daughter and sentenced to 90 days.

A Seal Beach man whose wife is facing murder charges for the death of their one-year-old daughter, has been convicted of negilgent homicide, Court Martialed and sentenced to 90 days of detainment for his role in the toddler's death.

Sergeant First Class Derrick Wilborn, a Seal Beach resident and member of the Los Angeles Medical Recruiting Command, based in Long Beach, was tried via General Court-Martial by a panel of officers sitting at Fort Irwin, California and convicted of one count of negligent homicide, one count of child endangerment by culpable negligence resulting bodily harm, and one count of Child Endangerment by culpable negligence resulting in grievous bodily harm.

His wife Linda Wilborn, 33, is accused of beating to death their 22-month-old daughter, Millicent in December of 2009. The baby's twin brother had a fractured skull but survived. Seal Beach police detectives were at the department Christmas party when the call came in to investigate the death of a baby girl.

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According to police, Wilborn, a mother of four, called 911 to report that her daughter was hurt. Millicent was rushed to Los Alamitos Medical Center, where she died from a ruptured heart. Doctors found that the toddler had fresh and old fractures to her ribs, and an examination of her twin brother revealed a fractured skull, according to the district attorney’s office.

The Court Martial panel of officers found that Wilborn knew Linda had been abusing the children prior to December, and that he negligently failed to prevent or intervene in their further abuse. A member of the Los Angeles Medical Recruiting Command based in Long Beach, Derrick Wilborn has been in the Army for more than 22 years. In addition to the 90-day detainment, the panel sentenced him to be suffer a demotion in rank. Derrick Wilborn is currently being detained at Fort Irwin.  The Army Corrections Command will determine where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.  The reduction in rank will take effect on July 15, 2012, according to the Seal Beach Police Department.

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Linda Wilborn could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of killing Millicent and severely beating her twin brother at their Seal Beach home. Wilborn remains in custody with her bail set at $1 million. Her trial is scheduled to begin June 18.

The couple’s three surviving children were placed in protective custody following Millicent’s deaths.

A 2010 report by OC Weekly, broke the news of the conditions that authorities found the Wilborn children in: “Cops who'd arrived there for the 9-1-1 call found gnaw marks on a bedroom door jamb. The children would peel paint chips from the wall and put it in their mouths, and also tear up the carpet and eat that, too, the parents reportedly told police.”

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