Slain teen's dad seeking custody of her newborn

Five days after losing his daughter to what appears to have been a black-hearted act of violence, James Mikels was in Family Court yesterday fighting for his right to raise his infant granddaughter.

"James wants to take care of that child," said George Horiates, the Pennsauken-based attorney who represented Mikels in Family Court. "He takes a look at his granddaughter and he sees his daughter's eyes."

But after a 20-minute custody hearing in Camden, Mikels left court without Miciana, the 5-week-old baby at the center of a family horror story that ended in the weekend slaying of 17-year-old Felicia Mikels of Pennsauken.

Miciana will remain for now in the custody of the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services.

"It's just the initial stage in the process," Horiates said. "It's going to be a long haul before any final determination is made. . . . Amongst all this, [James Mikels] has to deal with the inability to comprehend the unexplainable."

Police say James Mikels' younger brother, Christopher, lured Felicia to a bowling alley, then drove her and the baby to a vacant lot, where his friend, Douglas Mandichak, beat her to death with a piece of wood. They allegedly wrapped her body in a tarp and dumped her in the Pennsauken Creek. Yesterday, divers continued to search for her body for the fourth day.

According to authorities, Christopher Mikels, 26, and Mandichak, 25, talked of killing the baby but ultimately abandoned Miciana on the front lawn of a Cherry Hill home. A passing motorist spotted her Saturday morning sitting in her car seat, bundled under blankets, authorities said.

Investigators say that Mikels and Mandichak, who now face murder charges, have confessed to the crime. Christopher Mikels told investigators that he may be Miciana's father, authorities said.

Prosecutors are awaiting DNA test results that they hope will identify the baby's father. Earlier this week, acting Camden County Prosecutor Joshua M. Ottenberg said they have taken DNA samples from "a number of people," including the two suspects. Those results could take several weeks, he said. *