Police have arrested the alleged killer, 37-year-old Aaron Howard who has been charged with murder in the death of 67-year-old John Miller.
It began, police say, as a dispute among neighbors in Abilene, Tex. Two families argued about where to dump trash in an adjacent alleyway. Insults escalated to threats, culminating in a father who was allegedly beaten to death with a baseball bat in front of his son by a man who lived next door in an encounter captured on camera.
The Sept. 1 standoff between the neighbors, which ended in the fatal bashing, was the final argument in a days-long feud over trash disposal, said Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge, speaking at a news conference about an hour after the incident.
“It’s been going on for a couple days, and it culminated in today’s violence,” Standridge said. Howard was killed in front of his son, 31-year-old Michael Miller, who could do little more then watch as his father was bludgeoned to death. The encounter was captured on the cellphone of Howard's wife. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published the footage on Thursday, which gives a rare glimpse into a deadly dispute and sheds new light on a weeks-old killing.
Reached by phone, the Howard's declined to discuss the incident.
The video, at a little over two and a half minutes unedited, begins with the Millers, both unarmed, staring Howard down, a flipped twin mattress between them. That mattress, Michael told the Star-Telegram, was the conflict’s catalyst.
Howard had thrown the mattress in the dumpster a couple days earlier, he said. But on Sept. 1, they saw the mattress back on their property. So Howard moved it back to the dumpster. Michael said Howard’s nieces, nephews and brothers were with them, too. He told the paper that he saw his father, John Miller, walk to the dumpster, pull the mattress out and toss it back on Howard’s property.
I'm starting to think that these Miller threads are just clever slide threads
Julian Lewis
That’s when, Michael said, Howard and Miller started shouting at each other and Aaron Howard pulled a baseball bat out of his pickup, he said, at which point, he arrived to support his father. At this point, Howard's wife started recording the altercation on her phone. “Oh yeah, you’re going to jail,” Miller Senior can be heard saying in the video.
“Nah I’m not,” Howard replies. He’s holding his baseball bat at his side. “Back off ... If you come closer to me, I’m gonna call the police,” John Miller says calmly.
“Hey, you hear him say he’s gonna call the cops on me?” Howards asks wife, before turning back to John Miller. The men begin trading insults, their voices get louder. Howard tells the Millers, “You’re dead. I promise you, you’re both dead . . . I’m gonna kill you.”
Michael Miller then interrupts and advises, “If you’re gonna show this video to the cops, you might as well stop yelling that you’re gonna kill us.”
Howard responds that he doesn’t care and repeats his threat.
“If you come within three foot of me, I’m gonna call the police,” John Miller says.
“You’re not going to call the police on my husband,” Howard's wife responds.
A couple seconds later, a thud can be heard and we briefly see Aaron Howard launch the baseball bat at John Miller, striking him on the right side of his head, and the camera moves wildly. Then John Miller is seen falling to the ground with blood gushing from his head. It's unclear if he is still conscious or not. At this point, with his son Michael pleading with the man to stop, but unable to do little more then watch as Aaron Howard retrieves the baseball bat and then proceeds to viciously strike the motionless John Miller laying in the dirt approxiamtetly five times, directly on the back of Mr Miller's head.
Carter Nguyen
“John? John? No! No!” Michael screams.
John Miller had been struck several times, said Standridge, the police chief. At the news conference, Standridge didn’t disclose where on his body Miller has been struck, but said he died after being transported to the hospital.
The investigation is ongoing, the chief said then.
On Thursday, Aaron Howard said he didn't want to talk about that day or the charges against him.
“I really don’t have a comment one way or the other,” Aaron Howard told The Washington Post. “This is something that I consider a private matter between me and the state of Texas.”
Mr Howard was booked into Taylor County Jail on murder charges, but was released ahead of his court date after he posted a $25,000 bail, the Star-Telegram reported.
Michael still lives in Abilene, he told the newspaper.
But not in the house next to the Howard's.
Andrew Adams
The spokesperson for the National Bat Association declined to comment on the specific nature of the issue but also reinforced people's right to bear bats, while the debate at a national levels rages on over the legalities of bats in general and whether comon sense bat reform needs to be further examined.
The inherent problem with your arguement, is that the escalation of force has been switched.
You can't make the assumption that a 6'7 guy would even feel the need to get a baseball bat against the old guy and his overweight son. However since they were armed with a pistol and a shotgun, he was literally and metaphorically outgunned, Thus entitled to protect himself.
Ryder Perez
It's an anti gun aussie take on a real actual shooting where the video has gone viral online but they has no weaponry over down under I guess so he did his own version of the events
Angel Wilson
The most based thread I've seen in some time. Nice work, Aussiebro.
Camden Torres
>Anti-gun aussie
Yet again a fucking Leaf proves that they are complete brainlets. The thrust of his argument is boiled down to "If they didn't have guns, they'd be the one who is dead" which is a pro-gun stance.
David Richardson
Leaf, you are a proven brainlet based on this comment. The Aussie is proving that calling the police wouldn't have prevented the possibility of them being beaten to death with a bat by the guy they rightfully shot dead. Any police officer would have been cleared of shooting the same guy in the same circumstances. This was justified self-defense.
Did you guys know they haven't even been formally charged? I just read it in a CNN article (it was the first search result): cnn.com/2018/09/22/us/texas-neighbor-shooting-mattress-dispute/index.html >Online jail records Friday said the Millers faced charges of first-degree murder. The Taylor County Criminal Court clerk told CNN on Friday they had not been formally charged.
James Torres
>Grabbing a bat and saying I’m going to kill you and approaching with the weapon and attacking with the weapon.
I'm sorry you are someone with a lower IQ than every single person in that video. Would it have pleased you if I used "Therefore" or "consequently? Or are those word too big for you to even pronounce?
Alexander Ross
He was a violent criminal off his medication with a mile long rap sheet with numerous counts of assault, battery, and theft. His own wife in the video had previously taken out a restraining order on him for domestic violence. Just 3 days previous to his death he posted online about shooting the mailman the next time he saw him. It is entirely within character for him to grab a bat and beat someone to death with it in fit of rage.
Easton Stewart
>public space this was their property wasnt it?
Luis Gray
>entitled to protect himself >by getting a bat and rushing two guys with guns who are calmly telling you to back off yyeeeeughhhghghgajknfk I'm gonna say no
John Foster
Someone please post the picture of Howard's arrests over the last decade? the one that shows he's been arrested at least once a year.
Luke Myers
>ancap taking the mailman’s side well now I’ve seen everything
Isaiah White
Bringing firearms to something as trivial as a dispute about garbage, is cause for alarm. Further more, it can be argued that they specifically brought firearms with the express purpose of getting them to stop putting the mattress into the dumpster. (causing fear/alarm)
>(2)did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and
>(3)was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
>(b)The use of force against another is not justified:
>(1)in response to verbal provocation alone;
Connor Martinez
It was stated in the video that it was an alley behind their house, which is public property.
>Be 6'7" violent wigger >Can't properly dispose of your trash >Old man comes out and throws your mattress in your lawn to get it out of the dumpster before the community is fined for improper disposal >Put it back in the dump >Old man comes out again with a gun by his side and goes to remove the mattress >Drive your whole family to the dump and sperg out on the old man >The old mans son comes out after this with a shotgun to protect his father from you, a violent druggie >Threaten to kill them will your dumb bitch wife pushes you and records instead of calling the police >You brother hands you a bat after the old man made it clear he would shoot if you get closer >You come at the old man with a bat after screaming I'll fucking kill you >Wife says, you won't shoot my husband >He fires >Throw you bat at him and get a slug in the head from his son >This is the last thing you remember seeing before you fade away
It's a fantasy about something that never happened. Anyone can write anything about anything.
...
At which Miller produced the rock of crack coacine from the pocket it had been stored in. "Tell you what", he said. "I'll give you this here crack nugget if you let me fuck your wife". Howard pondered. But not for long. Soon enough all four of them were engaged in hot lusty sex. I won't even tell you where the bat wound up.
next to a dumpster on their property tho? alley != public property
Jaxson King
>>/reddit/
Nolan Carter
bump
Henry Parker
>his argument Leaf number 2 proves he is just as stupid as the first. Jow Forums isn't the place to post fanfiction, there is clearly a point to reframing the story.
Everything I've been able to find on the subject points to alleys being maintained by the state, thus public property.
Leo Morris
Good thing there was a mattress because that retards taking a dirt nap.
Robert Baker
non-gun waffle here. Was the big hole in his head caused by a slug?
I'm certain it was buckshot, and I think only a single round ball hit him due to poor aim rather than spread. [it won't spread much at all at that range] A slug taken a large chunk out of his head.
Andrew Kelly
you realize 6'7" man was in jail for first and second degree assault right? He had no problem with beating the shit out of people
This whole thing could have really been avoided if both sides decided not to go all mad niggerish about it.
As soon as the dude walks out with a bat, you walk inside call 911, have the cop settle it. Now your facing manslaughter, and even if you beat the case, the wife is gonna sue you for everything.
Kevin Evans
Meta
Liam Bailey
And? Doesn't give anyone the right to brandish weapons against him, remove the right he has to both stand his ground and protect himself against intimidation.
Angel Green
this proves how justified those two rednecks were in defending themselves against that one orange shirt bat wielding psycho
Juan Phillips
I'd always prefer something will a full stock but any 12 gauge is better than no 12 gauge. I don't have the webm, and there's no sound on this board anyway so I wouldn't be able to post it, but here's the YT link. youtube.com/watch?v=rJo-jm9LZ_I
Jonathan Richardson
Texas's stand your ground law isn't as strong as FL's Chances are they are gonna do some time for something. Honestly nobody is the good guy here, the whole situation could have been avoided.
Ian Cooper
you protect yourself from intimidation by not being afraid. secondly, it's not brandishing. thirdly, it is perfectly reasonable to deal with a relatively large and violent criminal with the necessary precautions. You go armed to any confrontation, prepared to kill anyone. That's life, you're a retard if you think it is different. Should it be different? sure, but it's not
Julian Turner
ty
Brayden Garcia
leave Jow Forums and never come back, cocksucker
William Rogers
>secondly, it's not brandishing. Like to see your justification for this, as by the letter of the law, it clearly is.
Jordan Long
nothing of value was lost really. Maybe even a positive net outcome in the end
Asher Lee
love it
Ian Bailey
Me too. The only threads that get 200+ replies nowadays are these.
Jordan Barnes
>next to a dumpster on their property tho?
I think that's a community dumpster and it's not really meant for you to overload it with trash that sticks out the top. Being that when the trash company will not empty it. Lazy mattress dude either needed to haul his shit to the dump or just cut it up in small chunks. I threw a full size mattress out in a damn 90 gallon can once. It just took two trash days to do it. As for the case, I really have no clue how it's going to go once the case hits the courts and we have a jury in Texas that may or may not even see the entire video unedited. I would not be all that shocked of the father gets into less trouble than the son.
Cameron Brooks
>9 post by this id >His retardation is gettin stronger
Stop defending that convicted criminal and start supporting those two gummy bears( TRUE PATRIOTIC WARRIORS), aussie piece of shit.
Colton Hall
>You go armed to any confrontation, prepared to kill anyone.
This isn't 1886 Cowboy, the police are a cell phone call away. Worst thing that would have happened if they walked away were some feelings would be hurt and the police would have handled it. Stop encouraging nigger tier behavior. It's not like the 6'7" wigger was bashing in the old dude's door coming to rape his wife. Everyone in this video wanted to act hard and this is what happens.
Ryder Williams
All 3 are literally criminals. Everyone in this video is scum.
Doesn't change the fact that the Millers are going to jail for a long time.
Tyler Gonzalez
>“John? John? No! No!” Michael screams. He calls his dad by his first name?
Jaxson Wilson
This video is a prime example of why it's important to know when to walk away. That dumb fuck was staring at two guys with guns and still barking at them and threaten to kill them. He really thought he was going to out tough them because it's what he's done most of his life. Then his dumb bitch wife was making things even worse rather than trying to calm him down. If he had one iota of Common Sense he would still be alive right now, but he wanted to be a tough guy . I am sure they will put that on his tombstone.
Colton Scott
This, but you get the LARPer's in here that think this was a great example of the 2nd in action, in reality this is the worst example. And i'm fucking gun owner.
