North Ogden woman pleads not guilty to desecration of teen baby-sitter's body

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 22 2012 10:38 a.m. MST

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Alexis Rasmussen, 16, reportedly left a baby-sitting job for Eric and Dea Millerberg on Sept. 10, 2011, around midnight. Her body was found Oct. 18.

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Summary

A North Ogden woman charged in connection with the death of the couple's 16-year-old babysitter waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

OGDEN — A North Ogden woman charged in connection with the death of the couple's 16-year-old babysitter waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Dea Millerberg, 38, is charged in 2nd District Court with abuse or desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony, in the death of 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen. She pleaded not guilty to the hearing Wednesday, waived her right to a preliminary hearing and asked that a disposition hearing be set.

That likely means she is considering accepting a plea bargain. However, the woman and her attorney, Michael Bouwhuis, declined to comment Wednesday.

Dea Millerberg and her husband, Eric Millerberg, both face charges in the death of the teenager, who was last seen the night of Sept. 10 when she was baby-sitting the couple's two young daughters. Her body was found Oct. 18 in Morgan County.

Prosecutors said Alexis died from a drug overdose.

Eric Millerberg has been charged with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; unlawful sexual activity with a minor and abuse or desecration of a human body, both third-degree felonies, in connection with the teen's death.

Prosecutors have called Dea Millerberg's involvement "minimal" compared to her husband's role. She filed for divorce from her husband on Feb. 9.

Eric Millerberg, 36, is currently in prison. He was sentenced to zero to five years for a separate drug-related probation violation in October. A preliminary hearing in his case is slated for April.

Dea Millerberg is also facing two counts of falsely obtaining or dispensing of a prescription, a third-degree felony, in connection with incidents in May and July of this year and a charge of endangerment of a child or a vulnerable adult, a third-degree felony. She has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and was released from custody after posting bail.

A pre-trial conference hearing has been set in Dea Millerberg's case for April 25.

E-mail: emorgan@desnews.com, Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam

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