Late last week, the United States Army has convicted Sgt. First Class Derrick Wilborn of negligent homicide and child endangerment by culpable negligence in the death of his infant daughter, Seal Beach resident Millicent Wilborn. He was sentenced to 90 days confinement and reduction in rank.
He has been in the Army for over 22 years.
Millicent Wilborn died on Dec. 17, 2009. At the time, Seal Beach Police officers and Orange County Fire Authority Paramedics responded to a report of a child not breathing at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station housing. Millicent Wilborn was taken to Los Alamitos Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. According to Seal Beach Police Derrick Ron La Velle, Millicent was home with her mother and three siblings. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has said that Millicent’s father, Derrick Wilborn, was at work at the time.
As previously reported in the Sun, Millicent’s twin brother, who has only been identified as John Doe, was also hospitalized for a skull fracture that day. He survived.
There was no evidence the other two children were abused, according a joint Seal Beach PD, Orange County DA press release issued in Feburary 2010. Police took the three surviving children into custody.
The police investigation led to the arrest of Linda Wilborn, the child’s mother. The Orange County DA has charged Linda Wilborn with inflicting an injury to a child likely to result in great bodily injury or death, and second degree murder. Linda Wilborn was arrested that month while she was visiting her children at the Orange County Social Services Agency.
The United States Army preferred charges against Millicent’s father, Derrick Wilborn.
Between Tuesday, May 29, and Friday, June 1, Derrick First Class Derrick Wilborn was tried by general court-martial by a panel of officers sitting at Fort Irwin, California. Wilborn was convicted of the following offences: 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, all in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The panel of officers found that Derrick Wilborn knew his wife Linda Wilborn had been abusing their children prior to December, and that he negligently failed to prevent or intervene in their further abuse. The conviction was based on the investigation initiated by the SBPD.
Derrick Wilborn is a member of the Los Angeles Medical Recruiting Command, based in Long Beach. Derrick Wilborn’s verdict carries the same effect as a federal conviction.
The panel sentenced Derrick Wilborn to be reduced from sergeant first class to specialist, a lower enlisted rank and to be confined for 90 days. 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 Orange County Superior Court website, Linda Wilborn’s trial is scheduled to continue June 15. According to La Velle, June 18. If Linda Wilborn is convicted of fatal child abuse, the penalty would be the same as a murder conviction: 25 years to life.
