Maryland veteran shot 3-year-old daughter and cut her throat before fatal shootout with police

A Temple Hills, Maryland man slashed his 3-year-old daughter's throat, then shot and killed her before leading police on a car chase that ended in a fatal shootout.

According to CBS Baltimore, 38-year-old Frederick Roy Miller shot and wounded two other people in the rampage, which took place on Saturday.

Police Chief Mark Magaw said in a press conference that Miller, a Marine veteran, was engaged in a custody battle with his ex-wife. On Saturday, Miller went to the home where his daughter, Laila Miller, lived with her two primary caretakers, her maternal grandfather and great-grandmother.

Miller shot the two adults, one in the driveway in front of the house, and left with the child as neighbors looked on in horror.

Police pursued Miller in a high-speed car chase that ended in a hail of bullets. When Miller was confirmed dead, police converged on the car and found Laila Miller bleeding from a gash in her throat and with a bullet wound to the head.

She was rushed to a local hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.

Magaw said that early forensics reports indicate that the bullet that killed Laila Miller was not fired from a police weapon. Investigators also found a bloody knife in the car.

“Somewhere in the middle of the chase, he made a conscious decision to kill his daughter,” said Magaw to reporters. “There’s no one else who could have killed this baby girl other than her father."

CBS said that both Laila's grandfather and great-grandmother remain in critical condition. The girl's mother, who was not at the residence on Saturday, was unharmed.

Watch video about this story, embedded below via CBS Baltimore: