Prison time for woman charged in baby sitter death

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — When she died, Alexis Rasmussen was a 16-year-old Utah girl trying to find her own identity, her mother said.

Instead, Rasmussen found Dea Millerberg, a 41-year-old woman who was sentenced Thursday for helping her husband dispose of the teen's body after baby-sitting turned into a night of sex and drugs.

"I go back over and over again, thinking what I could have done to make things different. I wonder if she ever does the same thing," said the girl's mother, Dawn Miera. "I don't know what Lexie found in Dea that she could not get from me."

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, listens to Attorney Michael D. Bouwhuis during her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Prosecutors said the Millerbergs gave the teen drugs in exchange for baby-sitting services, and the three had a drug-fueled sexual relationship that led to Rasmussen's death from an overdose in 2011.

A state judge sentenced her to up to five years in prison Thursday, calling the crime heinous and depraved.

"She lost all her common sense, and was not in a position to help Alexis when she needed her the most," said Judge W. Brent West. He said he would have leveled a harsher penalty if not for a plea deal prosecutors agreed to after Millerberg testified against her husband.

Prosecutor Dee Smith said Rasmussen's death wasn't ruled a homicide and he might not have been able to convict 38-year-old Eric Millerberg without her testimony.

"He was the one who was most responsible for this act," Smith said. Eric Millerberg put a hit out on his wife after she told a jury that her husband injected the girl with heroin and methamphetamine, defense attorney Michael Bouwhuis said. Eric Millerberg was sentenced to up to life in prison.

Bouwhuis asked the judge for probation for Dea Millerberg, saying she had been off drugs for three years since Rasmussen's death. She moved to Wyoming to live with her aunt and regained custody of her children.

Millerberg had an unstable mother, started drinking at 13 and later turned to drugs, her attorney said. She was abused by Eric Millerberg as well as by a previous husband. She nevertheless finished high school, earned a nursing degree and bought a home, he said.

But after Millerberg was released from a stint in jail, she started using drugs again. The night Rasmussen died, prosecutors said she helped her husband put the girl's body in their car. The couple left their 6-year-old daughter at home, strapped their baby into their car and drove to a remote, wooded area to dump the girl's body. Rasmussen was missing for more than a month before police found the body near a river.

Millerberg pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body. The county attorney said Thursday that he was satisfied with the sentence in what he called a difficult case.

"It's the kind of thing that makes you hug your kids at night," he said.

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, makes a statement during her sentencing hearing, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. Attorney Michael D. Bouwhuis stands at left. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Alexis Rasmussen's mother, Dawn Miera, makes a statement during Dea Millerberg's sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, glances back at her family as she is escorted out of the court after her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, glances back at her family as she is escorted out of the court after her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, reacts as Alexis Rasmussen's mother, Dawn Miera, makes a statement during Millerberg's sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, cries as Alexis Rasmussen's mother, Dawn Miera, makes a statement during Millerberg's sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, reacts as Alexis Rasmussen's mother, Dawn Miera, makes a statement during Millerberg's sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, reacts as Alexis Rasmussen's mother, Dawn Miera, makes a statement during Millerberg's sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dawn Miera, mother of Alexis Rasmussen, speaks with reporters after a state judge sentenced 41-year-old Dea Millerberg Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who was accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter Alexis' body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, was sentenced to prison for up to five years on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, is escorted from court after her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dawn Miera, mother of Alexis Rasmussen, speaks with reporters after a state judge sentenced 41-year-old Dea Millerberg Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who was accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter Alexis' body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, was sentenced to prison for up to five years on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Dawn Miera, mother of Alexis Rasmussen, walks away from the courtroom after a state judge sentenced 41-year-old Dea Millerberg Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who was accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter Alexis' body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, was sentenced to prison for up to five years on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

CORRECTS SOURCE TO SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, NOT DESERET NEWS - Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, makes a statement during her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. Attorney Michael D. Bouwhuis is on the left. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, convicted of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, makes a statement during her sentencing hearing Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, who pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body, was sentenced to prison for up to five years. Attorney Michael D. Bouwhuis is on the left. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Rick Egan, Pool)

Dea Millerberg, 41, arrives at 2nd District Court, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Dea Millerberg, left, arrives at 2nd District Court Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. Millerberg agreed to a plea deal after testifying against her husband. She pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body. She faces up to five years in prison under the terms of the deal. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Dea Millerberg, 41, arrives at 2nd District Court Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ogden, Utah. Millerberg, accused of helping her husband dump their teenage baby sitter's body in the woods after a night of sex and drugs, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday. Millerberg agreed to a plea deal after testifying against her husband. She pleaded guilty in June to three felonies, including desecration of a human body. She faces up to five years in prison under the terms of the deal. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)