Parenting 101: Child Won’t Eat Breakfast? Beat Him to Death

Parenting 101: Child Won’t Eat Breakfast? Beat Him to Death

Scott Jacob McMillan was born in Pennsylvania on January 26, 2011, to Jillian Tate and Lauren McMillan. His parents weren’t married but had been in a relationship for several years. Their older son, whom we will call R., was four years old when Scott was born. Scott, who went by the nickname Scotty, had bright red hair, blue eyes, and a sweet smile. His paternal aunt, Tara, said he looked a lot like his father and that he was a happy baby who loved his older brother. His mother said he was absolutely adorable and referred to him as her “little man.”

Her sister, Scotty’s maternal aunt, Kim, called him her “little scooter pop” and said he was a beautiful, sweet, and innocent little boy. He loved Thomas the Tank Engine, and his favorite color was green. Like many toddlers, he loved to snuggle, give kisses, and have tickle fights. He also loved singing in the back seat of his Aunt Kim’s car while she was driving. Jillian seemed excited when she found out she was having another son; on September 25, 2010, she announced her pregnancy by posting an ultrasound photo with the caption, “My baby boy, I can’t wait to meet you.” A couple of months later, she posted another ultrasound with a similar message: “My adorable little boy, can’t wait to meet him.”

Though they had been together for more than four years by the time Scotty was born, Jillian and Lauren weren’t getting along. He wasn’t there to see his baby born, and he wasn’t there to take Scotty and Jillian home from the hospital; instead, Aunt Kim brought them both to her house. Jillian and the boys stayed there for some time after the birth, and she posted many photos of newborn baby Scotty on her social media. According to Philadelphia Magazine, Jillian had several social media accounts registered under different names. Many of the images she posted showed her out on the town, having fun. Around this time, she often hung out with a new friend named Shannon Taylor. Shannon described the mother as a “normal, goofy, everyday funny girl.” Though it was difficult to balance motherhood and her social life, Jillian still managed to make time to go out, and she even listed her religion online as “PLUR,” which, among ravers, stands for “Peace, Love, Unity, Respect.” In March of 2012, Jillian and Lauren were photographed at a rave, dancing together, but by the end of 2013, the couple had officially broken up. He moved out of state to Overland Park, Kansas.

After the breakup, Lauren’s family didn’t see the boys much, but his sister, Scotty’s Aunt Tara, got regular updates on the boys through Jillian’s social media posts. She said Jillian shared photos of both boys often and that Jillian really seemed to love those kids. Tara said that her parents had often helped the couple out with money when Lauren and Jillian were together, but on her own, Jillian struggled to support herself and her sons. She sometimes mentioned her financial issues online and even placed an online ad in search of a “sugar daddy.” In her ad, she mentioned both Scotty and her older son by name, seemingly unaware of how dangerous that can be.

But Jillian didn’t meet her sugar daddy online; instead, she met Gary Lee Felker III at Walmart, where they both worked. Gary was quite the catch: he had been married to Amber Felker for several years, and they had an 11-month-old baby girl. Though they were still married and living together in a rundown trailer, they had reportedly ended their relationship and were in the process of getting a divorce. He was a big guy, weighing about 275 pounds, and had a short temper. To recap, Jillian’s new “sugar daddy” was not a catch: he was quick to anger, didn’t make a lot of money, lived in a rundown mobile home, and was still married. No red flags there. But he and Jillian had an instant connection, and just days after meeting, he moved Jillian and her kids into the mobile home on Hope Lane in West Caln Township, where they joined Amber and his daughter. Her older son was in kindergarten at Rainbow Elementary, but she didn’t let the teachers know that they had moved and didn’t give them their new address.

There might have been a brief honeymoon period during early October when they first moved in, but soon the situation for Jillian and both boys turned grim. Gary wanted to be respected, and he felt that wasn’t happening, so he lashed out, hitting both boys with an open hand. According to Jillian, he was very manipulative and kept her sleep-deprived and on edge, only allowing her to sleep an hour a night. Around this time, her old friend Taylor ran into her at Walmart and noted a big change in Jillian, saying she was “pretty rough-looking” and that “she just looked like she didn’t care about herself really.”

After only two weeks of living with Gary, around mid-October of 2014, Jillian stopped sending the older boy, known as R., to school. Events in the home soon turned even darker. The boys were often confined to a room for long periods of time and weren’t even allowed to go to the bathroom. When they were unable to hold it any longer, they had to hide any evidence of their waste so they wouldn’t get in even more trouble. Instead of using an open hand, Gary began punching the boys with a closed fist and beating them with objects like wooden spoons and a frying pan. R. soon realized the more he fought, the harder he would be beaten, so he tried to stay still and quiet so Gary would lose interest. However, Scotty was just too young to understand, and he couldn’t stop his cries and squirming, so he became more and more of a target. On several occasions, Gary hung both of the boys upside down by their feet so he could beat them more easily.

Gary’s wife, Amber, saw what was happening, but she did nothing to stop it and never reported it. She said the first time she saw Gary hit Scotty, he gave him a spanking for not responding when Gary asked him a question. On another occasion, she saw Gary hit Scotty with a green frying pan as punishment. She never stepped in and protected either boy, possibly because her 11-month-old daughter was safe as long as Gary had other targets in the home. Jillian, their actual mother, did much worse: she helped, as she referred to it, “punish” the boys by participating in the beatings and laughing with Gary while they both hit them.

One of the saddest parts of the story is that there was a chance to save them. Teachers at R.’s school had never noticed any signs of child abuse before the family moved in with Gary. They were very concerned when R. continued to miss school without any reason as days turned into weeks. The staff called Jillian, wrote her a letter, and finally performed a home visit to the address they had on file. If they had been able to observe R. and Scotty, they would have seen the cuts and bruises on both boys and been able to get them help. But Jillian hadn’t updated her address on file when she moved, so instead, they left a note taped to the door of the family’s previous home.

In early November, the violence on Hope Lane escalated. Though the exact timeline isn’t clear, starting on November 2, the next three days would be brutal. Gary had been busy coming up with new ways to torture the children. He had created a homemade cat-o’-nine-tails whip using thick cords and electrical tape. He had also scavenged an old metal curtain rod and a strip of aluminum to use as weapons. He covered the sharp edges with tape so he wouldn’t hurt his own hands but left the beating end sharp and rough. He and Jillian had both been using these items on the boys, but Gary focused more of his attention on Scotty. His brother was forced to watch, and sometimes Gary even made the older boy join in and hit his baby brother, too.

The constant beatings took a toll on Scotty’s small body. When he woke up on the morning of November 3, Scotty either wouldn’t—or more likely couldn’t—eat the piece of cinnamon toast Jillian made him for breakfast. She and Gary both tried to force him to eat, shoving the toast into his mouth, but Scotty kept spitting it back out. This infuriated Gary, who took it as a sign of disrespect toward him, and not a sign that the toddler was likely injured, sick, and in pain from the stress of constant abuse in the home. As Gary’s anger rose, he began punching Scotty in the belly and in the face. He grabbed the boy and dragged him into the bedroom, where he and Jillian continued to punch and hit him, R., and Jillian. He then picked Scotty up by his back and slammed him into the wall, leaving a dented impression of his head in the drywall. During the beating, Scotty briefly lost consciousness and stopped responding, so the couple put him in a cold shower to wake him up. They were able to revive him, and they took him back to his bedroom.

Scotty woke up the next morning; his face was red and very swollen. Again, Gary tried to force him to eat toast, and again, the toddler was unable to do so. Gary told him he was being disrespectful and punched him so hard he fell out of his chair. Angry, Gary picked the toddler up, put him back in the chair, and pulled out electrical tape. He taped Scotty’s feet together and pulled his arms up and taped them to the posts of the chair, so Scotty was stuck to the chair with his arms raised, with no way to protect himself. Then, Gary punched him repeatedly in the face and belly, causing him to throw up and become unresponsive again.

Amber saw all of this; she saw the three-year-old taped to the chair and viciously beaten. She didn’t try to help him, stop Gary, or call for help. Scotty passed out from the pain and damage done to him. Remember, this is a grown man and a tiny three-year-old boy. With all of his might, Gary decided his inability to respond was just more disrespectful behavior. Like they had done the day before, Gary and Jillian dragged him into a cold shower to wake him up. This time, it didn’t work, so they put him in an ice bath. When he still didn’t wake up, they changed his clothes, set him on a deflated air mattress in the bedroom, and left him there to sleep it off, while blood seeped out of his nose, mouth, and ears.

Visibly, Scotty wasn’t sleeping; he was slowly dying. The six-year-old brother was left to watch it happen to him while he lay there. Jillian and Gary decided to go out. They stopped by the local dealership to look at cars for sale, then ordered pizza to take home for dinner. When they got home, they ate, then had sex, and took a nap. Afterward, when Jillian finally woke up from her nap at 7:30 p.m., she went to check on Scotty, and he wasn’t breathing. She screamed and asked someone to call for help. Amber called 911, and police and first responders quickly arrived, but it was too late.

Paramedics noted that he wasn’t breathing and that he was covered in cuts, bruises, and puncture wounds. They tried to revive him, but he was already gone. They took him to the nearby Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, and nurses who worked on him sat there and cried when they saw his injuries. He was pronounced dead on November 4 at 7:45 p.m. One of the first responders who worked on him that night, Katie McDevitt, said that finding him that way was something she could never forget. In an online post directed at the boy, she said: “I remember the looks on everyone’s faces after they laid their eyes on you, Scotty. I remember everything about the first and last day I met you. I remember my hands on your little cold body. I remember the color of your hair. I remember just how small you were, all of it. Your story forever changed my life. I am so sorry that your life was cut so short. I’m sorry that I personally couldn’t save you. I remember you, Scotty, and I always will. Rest in peace, Scotty McMillan, the little redheaded boy who will be forever in my heart.”

Police and additional paramedics looked after the other children in the home. The 11-month-old girl had no injuries, but Scotty’s older brother showed clear signs of injury and child abuse. He was taken to the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, about 50 minutes away, where he could receive specialized care. Both children were subsequently placed into protective custody. Police searched the house and found ample evidence of what happened, including the whip, curtain rod, aluminum strip, and remnants of electrical tape. They photographed the holes in the bedroom wall left when Scotty and his brother’s heads were slammed against it and the deflated air mattress Scotty had died on. In addition to all the evidence they found, one thing they didn’t find was also telling: in their search of the house, they only found a single photograph of little Scotty.

Police questioned all three adults—Amber, Jillian, and Gary—and all three confessed to their roles in his death. Amber admitted she saw what happened but did nothing until she called 911, and that call came far too late. Jillian said she never punched the boys with a closed fist but admitted that she helped beat both boys with a wooden spoon, a frying pan, and the whip. According to the police affidavit, during one incident, Gary hung Scott and R. up by their feet, one at a time, and beat the boys while they were hanging upside down. Jillian stated that she and Gary were laughing during the incident. She also admitted she saw the wounds and scars on both boys. She blamed the worst injuries on Gary, saying he punched the boys and also committed domestic violence against her. She also told detectives Gary threw Scotty against the wall so hard it caused a hole in the wall.

Gary confessed to beating Scotty and his brother. He admitted Scotty was heavily bruised and expressed remorse that his physical assaults caused another’s death. He told detectives he didn’t call for help when Scotty was unresponsive because he was afraid he would get in trouble with police or CPS. He also told officers this would not have happened if he had just eaten his breakfast.

Gary and Jillian were arrested on November 6 and charged with 16 counts, including first-degree murder, third-degree murder, homicide, aggravated assault, and other related charges. They were held without bail. Amber was arrested in November and charged with four counts of child abuse. Her bail was set at $500,000, and she also remained in jail.

When explaining the charges, Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan opened by saying, “Let me tell you about an American Horror Story.” He said that while Gary started by just spanking the boys, over a short amount of time it ramped up until it became concentrated, repeated, escalating abuse. He explained, saying, “Over a three-day period, Scotty was systematically tortured and beaten to death. He was punched in the face and in the stomach. He was scourged with a homemade whip. He was lashed with a metal rod. He was tied to a chair and beaten. He was tied upside down by his feet and beaten. His head was smashed through a wall. Our ER nurses see a lot of terrible things, but when they saw his body, they wept.” He said the community was shocked by the savage nature of the crime, and he said he planned to seek the death penalty for Scotty’s murder, pointing out two aggravating factors that supported such an extreme punishment: the young age of the victim and the torture he suffered. He also said the detectives found no evidence of alcohol or other substance use; they weren’t under the influence of anything when they committed the crimes. He said, “This is just evilness. It’s an unspeakable act of depravity.” The medical examiner’s office had ruled Scotty’s cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma, which caused the internal injuries. Ultimately, he suffered for days without medical attention, and those injuries eventually killed him. His manner of death was ruled a homicide.

In April of 2017, Amber pled guilty to four charges of child abuse. As part of her plea, she agreed to testify against her husband at his trial. At her sentencing hearing, she accepted full responsibility for her actions. Since her arrest, she told the court she had gotten counseling and had been trying to become a better person by practicing her Christian faith. She said, “I fully understand what I did was wrong. If I only had been more involved with what was going on around me, Scotty would be alive today. I am sorry. I did nothing. I failed as a person. Scotty deserves justice.” Her attorney requested a sentence of three years, but Common Pleas Judge William P. Mahon sentenced her to 6 and 1/2 to 16 years in prison.

That same month, April 2017, Jillian pled guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit child abuse, and other associated charges. As part of her plea, she also agreed to testify against Gary as a critical witness. With her plea, she was no longer eligible to receive the death penalty. At her sentencing hearing, she begged the court for leniency. She admitted her guilt and said there was no excuse for her crimes, but also claimed Gary manipulated her using her mental health issues and kept her in, in her words, “a virtual prison in my own house.” She said, “I wish to God I had my whole life back. If I had never met Gary, then my son Scott would be alive. I am truly repentant. I wish I could take it all back.”

At the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Michael Noon read aloud a letter Scotty’s brother wrote to his mother. It read: “Dear Mom, in November 2014, you, Gary, and Amber were trapped in a house of torture. The torture was you guys. The victims were me and Scotty. Scotty got killed. I got beaten. You were the worst mother I’ve ever known. You just watched us get hurt. I wish you never met Gary; he is really evil. He nearly killed me. You were the reason Scotty got killed. I thought parents were supposed to protect us. Now you are in jail for your time out.”

The uncle who adopted R. also spoke at the hearing. He said, given the choice between Scotty, who died from the beatings, and R., who was forced to live with the memory of everything that happened to him, he was “not sure which child is more unfortunate.” He noted that there are still times that R. remembers traumatic experiences, such as his mother checking his feet as he hung from the ceiling and being confined in a room where they had to hide their bowel movements so as not to be punished for relieving themselves. He said these are the memories that he has; his memories are fear, pain, and confusion as to why he wasn’t protected. At one point, the uncle addressed Jillian directly, saying, “I know you want to be forgiven. I acknowledge that your life has not been attractive. Life presents us all with challenges that we have to navigate, but no matter what, parents are responsible for the health and safety of their children.” He pointed to all the family members in the courtroom, including Jillian’s parents and stepmother, and said, “You had so many places you could have gone, but instead, you selfishly participated in the abuse of your own children. Scotty died alone on the floor, and R. watched it, and he was alone. Gary might have killed him, but ultimately, they were your responsibility. You should have protected them.”

Judge Mahone had similarly harsh words for Jillian while explaining his sentence. He told Jillian that Gary may very well be a sociopath, but “I’m not sure what that makes you. You’re their mother.” He continued, “Sadly, we live in a world of real-life American Horror Stories as monsters move among us. Mothers are meant to be protectors, but when a woman doesn’t have that basic instinct, that may make her worse than the psychopath she allows to harm her children. So the record is clear: I’ve gone outside the guidelines on some of the sentences. I’ve done so because I can’t imagine a factual scenario that’s more horrific than this. I can’t imagine an abdication of parental responsibility and a conspiracy with another human being to do this to your children. It tugged at the fabric of our entire society.” He handed down a sentence of 42 to 94 years in prison.

Jillian appealed, but ultimately lost her appeal. Gary’s trial date was postponed several times as he changed lawyers again and again. One of his new lawyers claimed that his client wasn’t competent to stand trial, so they had to have a competency hearing. Once he was found competent to stand trial, he tried to have his own confession thrown out. When that didn’t work, he changed his story and claimed he didn’t know Scotty was dead when he was interviewed, but detectives were able to provide video disputing that claim. At one of the hearings, he claimed he only spanked the boy and that Amber and Jillian inflicted all the serious injuries. As he lost motion after motion, his trial date crept closer. Two weeks before his trial was finally scheduled to begin, he escaped the death penalty by pleading guilty to charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and other associated charges.

Judge Mahone said the District Attorney’s office handled the case well, obtaining three convictions without a trial and saving the surviving brother the pain of having to testify. He said, “He does not have to go through again what he’s already gone through, and the jurors who would have heard the case did not have to be exposed to as horrific a set of facts as I’ve ever heard as a judge. It is terrifying and revolts us.” Gary was sentenced to life without parole, plus another 10 to 20 years for the aggravated assault and child abuse against the older boy, plus other charges. He is still in prison serving his time at the SCI Huntingdon unit in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Jillian is serving her time at the SCI Muncy in Lycoming County. Amber has been released on parole and is likely staying with family in Lancaster County.

Scotty’s family had a private ceremony for him on November 12, 2014. He was laid to rest holding a Thomas the Tank Engine train inside a casket that had Thomas painted on the lid. He was buried at Northwood Cemetery in Chester County, Pennsylvania. An investigation into R.’s school records determined that staff at Rainbow Elementary had followed protocol and had done everything that they could. Superintendent Kathy Tashner said the school was devastated by the horrors these boys endured. She said the district used multiple means of communication to attempt to contact the parents to determine the reason for the absence through phone calls, written communication, and eventually a home visit to the address they had on record. All of those procedures were followed; they had no way of knowing where Jillian had taken the boys because she never told them where they moved.

Scotty’s extended family still grieves his death. His Aunt Tara said she had no idea what was happening, saying, “We just had no clue. What kind of people do things like that? There’s not even words for it.” They try not to think about the moment when he realized no one was going to save him. Both Aunt Kim and Aunt Tara wanted custody of R., and they were able to come to a satisfactory arrangement. To protect R.’s privacy as a surviving victim, we haven’t used his name or the full names of the people currently caring for him. He deserves to grow up with as much peace as possible.

There have been many candlelight vigils and memorials in Scotty’s memory, including an online campaign where 19,000 people said they would light candles in their own homes to remember the little boy. When Scotty’s murder was first publicized, people around the world were moved by his story and wanted to do something to help his brother heal. District Attorney Hogan supported the effort, saying, “This child has been exposed to some things that no child should ever see or hear. He’s lost his little brother. He’s betrayed by the people who are supposed to care for him. The good people of this community cannot do anything to help Scotty except shed a tear and say a prayer. We all can join together to help R. rebuild his life.”

A press release from DA Hogan’s office said all the money that was sent from all over the world would be placed in the care of a trust, so the funds would be protected and ensure that all donations are used for the direct benefit of R. Attorney Lawrence “Skip” Persick helps set up the trust and has control over distributing the funds, but he is at odds with R.’s family about the best use of the money. He thinks it would be best to pay for the cost of college, while R.’s aunt would like to use some of the money now to help pay for things that would help him. In January of 2023, she wrote a letter asking for money to pay for trauma therapy for the boy, drum lessons and a drum set to advance his interest in the middle school band, an after-hours martial arts class to teach him discipline, and the cost of summer day camp for four weeks. The total amount she was asking for was $9,500, and she said the money could be paid directly to the organization, so it was clear she wasn’t using it for her own benefit.

She said, “As he has advanced into the teenage stage, the normal hormone fluctuations that come with a developing teen are exacerbated by his PTSD, and he’s experiencing some behavioral problems as a result. There are activities that we would like to involve him in to help him as much as we can, but those activities come with a cost.” The attorney refused to release the funds, saying they weren’t intended to pay for those kinds of expenses. He initially refused to tell them how much money was even in the trust, but a census revealed the initial donations publicly of close to $38,000, which have increased to around $62,000. She said, “My understanding was the trust was going to be for his younger years and to help him heal. Healing a child is providing them with structure and activities that will help them improve themselves, help them socially, sports, Boy Scouts, camp.” She is looking into additional legal recourse in order to appeal Attorney Persick’s decision. Meanwhile, she said, “We are doing what we can without the trust.”

At the end of Gary’s sentencing hearing, Assistant DA Noon read a note that the then eight-year-old older brother wrote to his younger brother, Scotty. His message sums up the events of Scotty’s short life with innocent and heartbreaking clarity. It reads: “Dear Scotty, I am so sorry that you got killed by Gary. I was trying to protect you. I have good news and bad news. The good news is Gary is in jail. The bad news is you are in heaven and not with me.”