A Daughter Told the Man Who Killed Her Mother She Still Loves Him
His middle child called him a great father, while her older sister said she could not stop loving him though what he did was unforgivable.
Dateline NBC · Children speak at father's sentencing. Business partner on trial for double murder. Plus, manhunts.The eldest daughter of Larry and Maya Millete spoke last in a packed Chula Vista courtroom, addressing the father who had been convicted of killing her mother.
She was appearing at his sentencing, the final chapter of a case that began when Maya, 39, vanished in January 2021 from the home she shared with Larry and their three kids. She was never seen leaving, investigators never recovered her remains, and in July a jury found Larry guilty of first-degree murder.
Maya’s relatives filled the room wearing green, prepared to describe grief and to press Larry for answers. Then attention turned to Maya’s own children, whose position was more complicated than anyone else’s.
The couple’s middle child said Maya had been a good mother, and then described Larry as a great father. He was awesome to her and her siblings, she said, and a person she would never regret having in her life.
Her older sister said she felt the complicated pain of knowing what he did was unimaginable as a person, and unforgivable as a human being. As his daughter, she said, she could not stop loving him, because he was the only parent they had left.
The eldest daughter said, "It's too much to ask of me to pick sides when I have so much love in my heart for both of them." Prosecutors also played video of Maya singing and playing guitar with her young son, and Larry appeared to tear up in what observers described as a possible first sign of emotion.
That love sits beside another wound for the family: not knowing where Maya is. One relative told Larry, "It is not too late to do what is right," urging him to say where Maya is.
After Larry said he hoped to make amends and repeated, I love you, to members of Maya’s family, tensions boiled over. Maya's niece shouted, "Where's Maya? What did you do?" until bailiffs escorted her from the courtroom.
Questions people ask
What sentence did Larry Millete receive?
The judge sentenced him to 25 years to life for murder, plus two years for a gun charge, effectively 27 years to life. The judge also imposed a 10-year protective order restricting contact with his children, though each child may petition to lift it after turning 18.
What did prosecutors say led to the killing?
Prosecutors described a marriage in trouble, saying Maya was planning to divorce Larry and had been having an affair with a married coworker. They also said Larry bought online spells to keep Maya with him, with one request asking that she suffer an accident and a broken bone.
Why was there no firm finding on how Maya died?
Prosecutors suggested Larry had shown an interest in hemlock, a poisonous plant, but said they could not prove how Maya died. With no body recovered, investigators and prosecutors have continued to ask Larry’s relatives and the public for information about where she might be.