People v. Larry Millete
May "Maya" Millete vanished from her Chula Vista home on January 7, 2021. Her body has never been found. Her husband Larry was charged with first-degree murder ten months later. After five years of delays, his trial began May 18, 2026. Seven women, five men. Expected to last three months.
★ Intro to Case · Sneak Peek
Live-read deep dive of the case to set the table before trial. Press play, take the receipts in chronological order.
★ Maya's Sister on the Stand — NBC 7 San Diego trial coverage.
★ Larry's Jailhouse Interview · NBC 7
NBC 7 Investigates sat down with Larry Millete inside Vista jail — four visits, two on-camera interviews. No questions off-limits. Only portions of his face shown at his request. The full documentary.
★ Case Overview
Three children. One mother. Zero body.
May "Maya" Millete — 39, mother of three — was last seen alive on January 7, 2021 at the Millete family home in Chula Vista, California. Her sister reported her missing two days later. Court filings and reporting describe a strained marriage in which Maya had told family and friends she planned to file for divorce.
San Diego County prosecutors charged Larry Millete with first-degree murder + a deadly-weapon enhancement on October 19, 2021. Maya's remains have never been recovered. The state's case rests largely on circumstantial evidence: text messages, online "spell-caster" purchases, behavioral inconsistencies in the days surrounding her disappearance.
After five years of delays — preliminary hearing, motion practice, defense-team rotations, continuance after continuance — the case is finally in front of a jury. Larry has remained in custody throughout.
★ Timeline
★ Key Players
★ Court Sketches · Trial
All courtroom sketches on this page are by Krentz Johnson, the courtroom sketch artist covering People v. Larry Millete.
Johnson has been sketching San Diego courtrooms since 2003. She holds a B.A. with Honors and Distinction in Fine Art from San Diego State University (1978) and studied at the Art Students League of New York. Her courtroom work has appeared on 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, A&E, and NBC 7 San Diego.
In 2016 she curated Portraits of Justice, a semi-permanent exhibition of courtroom sketching at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse in San Diego — featuring 20 national contemporary artists and the history of courtroom sketching in America.
Outside the courtroom she is a plein air painter represented by the Santa Ysabel Gallery and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, with work published in PleinAir Magazine.
★ Evidence on the Table
The receipts the state is leaning on.
→ Spell-caster purchases. Texts and emails describe an alleged escalation: first to make Maya love him again, then to injure her so she couldn't leave the house. Receipts, emails, and account logs were recovered.
→ Threats toward the suspected boyfriend. Investigators describe alleged threats against the man Larry believed Maya was leaving him for — including alleged consideration of hiring someone to hurt him.
→ Firearm timeline. Texts and purchase records around handguns Larry acquired in the months before Maya vanished.
→ The Jan 7 hours. Larry was reportedly seen loading his car that morning and then disappeared for ~11 hours with no solid alibi — the gap the prosecution wants the jury sitting with.
→ The marriage's last weeks. Texts between Maya and her sisters and friends about leaving Larry. Plans for a divorce attorney consult that never happened.
★ Verdict Watch
The jury is seated. Trial is live.
Opening statements delivered May 18, 2026. Five years and four months after Maya vanished — Larry's murder trial is finally underway. Seven women, five men on the jury. Trial expected to run ~3 months.
Prosecution's opening: divorce was not an option for Larry. The state is leaning into the spell-caster escalation, the firearm timeline, and the 11-hour gap on January 7.
Defense's opening: no body, no DNA, no crime scene. Claims Maya was "living a double life" and there is no evidence a murder occurred.
The two questions everybody's watching: does the spell-caster paper trail carry the weight of premeditation without a body? And can the defense's "double life" theory create enough reasonable doubt against five years of circumstantial build-up? Every witness, every ruling, every exhibit pins here as it lands.
★ Trial Live · May 2026★ Community Support · Friends Still Search
Five years later, they haven’t stopped looking.
When Maya disappeared, her family and friends didn’t wait. They organized search parties, distributed flyers, and built a movement. The #IAmMaya campaign — run through IAmMaya.org — became the community’s rallying point.
The logo tells the whole story: hibiscus flowers for Maya’s Hawaiian roots and the aloha spirit she carried everywhere. Three blooms for her three children. A hummingbird for her favorite bird — she even had one tattooed. Musical notes because she sang and played guitar. Every element is her.
From candlelight vigils to organized ground searches across San Diego County, Maya’s community has never let this case go cold. The trial may be the state’s fight, but the search has always belonged to the people who loved her.
★ The Full Story · Court TV
● Court TV — trial coverage from inside the courtroom.