Sgt. Gabriel Ceville and Misty Lue Delatorre (WRAL/YouTube screenshots)
A North Carolina father and sergeant in the U.S. Army has been accused of killing his 8-month-old daughter, allegedly beating the infant to death in his home more than a year ago.
Sgt. Gabriel Ceville, who is with the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Liberty, is facing one count each of unpremeditated murder, involuntary manslaughter, and domestic violence in the horrific February 2023 death of young Misty Lue Delatorre, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
As a member of the U.S. Army, Ceville is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and is not currently in detention after being released on his own recognizance.
According to Michelle McCaskill, the Communications Director with the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC), following a preliminary investigation, the OSTC on April 16, 2024, preferred the aforementioned charges against Ceville in connection to his daughter’s death.
Ceville on Wednesday appeared for a preliminary hearing in the matter at Fort Liberty. Such a hearing is “is required before referral of charges and specifications for trial by general court martial pursuant to Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ),” McCaskill wrote in an email to Law&Crime.
A general court martial is the most serious of the three levels of military courts.
According to a copy of the autopsy report from the State Medical Examiner’s Office obtained by Raleigh NBC affiliate WRAL, Misty in February 2023 was in the care of Ceville at his residence at Fort Liberty (then called Fort Bragg) when Ceville called 911 and told the emergency dispatcher that his infant daughter was not breathing.
The child was rushed to a hospital and Fayetteville for treatment. Due to the severity of her condition, she was then airlifted to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Hospitals where doctors said she was suffering from bilateral retinal hemorrhages throughout the entirety of both of her eyes and multiple brain bleeds, per Durham ABC affiliate WTVD. She was pronounced dead a few days after arriving at the facility.
“Her father stated that she had not been feeling well, and she had vomited,” the autopsy report stated. “(Ceville) slapped her on the back to clear her airway.”
However, the medical examiner’s findings reportedly belied Ceville’s explanation, stating the Misty’s injuries were “highly associated with abusive head trauma in infants” and “would be hard to explain by anything else.” Her manner of death was reportedly determined to be a homicide and the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and neck.
WRAL reported that Misty had only been in the care of her father for a few days, which was the result of a court order following an acrimonious custody battle between Ceville and Misty’s mother, Alina Delatorre.
“He had her for three days. That’s it,” the victim’s grandmother, Misty Bray, told the station. “The judge (in the custody case) was so concerned about the benefits that the military offered that she wasn’t concerned about anything else.”
Bray, who attended Wednesday’s hearing, told WTVD that she was shocked to learn the horrific extent of her granddaughter’s fatal injuries.
“Having to find out the injuries like that? Like who does that? That’s a monster. She did nothing. She may have been fussy, but that’s it,” she said.
Alina Delatorre told WTVD that she has been devastated by the loss of her daughter, but took solace in the fact that after more than a year, the case against Ceville seemed to be moving forward.
“It’s a step but it’s far from justice. I cannot grieve properly for my baby because justice has not been served,” she told the station. “It is unbelievable that so much violence was inflicted onto an innocent 8-month-old baby. My daughter’s murderer is walking free and we will not stop until that monster is put away.”
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