Family 'seeks justice' for shooting victim
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The family of Robert "Travis" Miller wants answers, and, if necessary, they want a change in Ohio law.
Miller died Oct. 9 in Dayton after he was shot in the back.
He was driven from the scene of the shooting to a restaurant on Salem Avenue, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and was taken by medics to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
This week, the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office announced that they would not be seeking a murder charge against Tyler Hamilton, a suspect in the shooting, due to Ohio's "castle doctrine."
"He made mistakes, like everybody else," Miller's mother told The Highland County Press. "But no one deserves to die like that. How can somebody be shot in the back and it be self-defense?"
Calls placed to the Montgomery County's Prosecutor's Office by The Highland County Press Friday afternoon were not immediately returned.
However, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office Greg Flannagan told The Dayton Daily News earlier this week that “Mr. Hamilton was in his motor vehicle, and it appears that (Miller) attacked Mr. Hamilton in some fashion. Under Ohio’s castle doctrine, one is permitted to use whatever force necessary, if you’re in your home, or if you’re in a private vehicle, to defend yourself. Based upon the castle doctrine, we did not feel that we could charge Mr. Hamilton with any kind of a homicide charge.”
The newspaper reported that "A three-prosecutor panel approved a charge of improper handling of a firearm inside a vehicle and trafficking in less than five grams of heroin against Hamilton, 20, of Dayton. A grand jury has been subpoenaed to determine if Hamilton will be indicted on the charges, according to Common Pleas Court records."
On Friday, Miller's mother, Kim Irvin, and his siblings, Anita Straight, Erica Miller and Scott Deaton, met with the prosecutor's office.
"They said they can't go forward with a trial because of the castle doctrine from 2008, which gives you the right to use deadly force if you're under attack in a car or house. They said Travis had apparently dove into the car and was holding on to the guy trying to get his money or whatever. But he was shot in the back," Straight said.
A witness in the case, according to Straight, told police that Miller had been in a fight with Hamilton "to get his money, so they didn't have enough evidence to go further. But (Travis) was unarmed."
"I think anyone might have reacted like that," Irvin said. "If someone has done you wrong, wouldn't you go confront them? That doesn't mean (Travis) was the one who first caused it."
Miller's family said they want to see justice served.
"We're not going away. We're going to keep on writing to the state Senate and (Legislature) to get this law to go away. There have been other cases where people have gotten out of it because of this self-defense thing. We're going to try to pass a law called 'Travis's Law."
Straight said, "We want to make it part of the law that if the person attacking you is not armed, you shouldn't be allowed to use deadly force with a weapon."
"I have to get justice for my son," Irvin said. "We're hoping we can find an attorney who can help us out in some way. I feel like there has to be a loophole in some way. I feel like they're listening to (the suspect), and Travis isn't around to say what happened. We're trying to prove what happened. We're speaking for Travis."
Travis's sister, Erica Miller, said, "You shouldn't be shot in the back and it be self-defense."
"It's like you don't care about the victim," Straight said.
In a 2010 story by the Columbus Dispatch that examined cases where the castle doctrine had been argued, the newspaper wrote, "The castle doctrine states that people are presumed to be acting in self-defense when they use deadly force and injure or kill someone who illegally enters their occupied home or vehicle. But critics say the law is silent about the appropriate level of force in response to threats, as well as the fault or criminal conduct of people who create situations that imperil themselves."
Rob Junk, a Pike County prosecutor, told The Dispatch in that story that, "It was not made to protect drug dealers from drug dealers, but that's how it's being used."
The Dispatch cited two cases, a Pike County case and a Franklin County case, noting that, "In rural Pike County, a man who ripped off a drug dealer's wares shot the dealer through the heart after he broke a window in an attempt to enter the defendant's car. Defense attorneys contended that the man acted lawfully. A jury convicted him of reckless homicide rather than murder. In Franklin County, a man fatally stabbed an acquaintance who pushed his way into the defendant's home during an argument. His attorneys said the law granted him an absolute right to defend himself with deadly force. The prosecution countered that the law 'is not a license to commit murder.'"
Central Ohio coordinator for the Buckeye Firearms Association, Steve Loos, defended the law in 2010, telling The Dispatch that defense attorneys were "misusing" the law, but that the castle doctrine was necessary to protect people against intruders.
"That's not the intent of the law. They are misusing it. It gives the presumption you are in the right if you use force against an intruder," Loos said. "I don't see that hampering the ability of prosecutors to pursue cases."
But Travis Miller's family feels that the law has done just that and prevented their loved one's case from even being presented to a grand jury.
"I don't want other families to have to go through what we're going through to get justice," Irvin said.
A vigil for Travis was set for Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. at the Highland County Courthouse. The family wants to pay tribute to his memory and try to raise funds for his gravestone.
"He was loved by so many people," Irvin said. "There were over 200 people who came to his visitation. He never talked bad about anybody. I love all my kids, each in their own way, but he was special. He'd look at me with that crooked grin of his - just like his grandpa - and he'd tell you, 'I got your back' or 'I got you,' and he could always make me feel better."
His siblings agreed that he was a loving person.
"He was an incredible person," said his brother, Scott Deaton. "We were best friends."
Sister Erica said, "He was always there when you needed him."
Irvin said that they put a picture of Travis and his daughter on the grave's monument "because we wanted her to see it and know that her dad loved her."
It also features a catchphrase his family said he was known for: "I love you. Just sayin'."
"My son was 19 years old," Irvin said. "His birthday is next month. There may be other families that this happened to, but he was my son. He's the only one I can fight for."[[In-content Ad]]
Miller died Oct. 9 in Dayton after he was shot in the back.
He was driven from the scene of the shooting to a restaurant on Salem Avenue, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, and was taken by medics to Miami Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
This week, the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office announced that they would not be seeking a murder charge against Tyler Hamilton, a suspect in the shooting, due to Ohio's "castle doctrine."
"He made mistakes, like everybody else," Miller's mother told The Highland County Press. "But no one deserves to die like that. How can somebody be shot in the back and it be self-defense?"
Calls placed to the Montgomery County's Prosecutor's Office by The Highland County Press Friday afternoon were not immediately returned.
However, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office Greg Flannagan told The Dayton Daily News earlier this week that “Mr. Hamilton was in his motor vehicle, and it appears that (Miller) attacked Mr. Hamilton in some fashion. Under Ohio’s castle doctrine, one is permitted to use whatever force necessary, if you’re in your home, or if you’re in a private vehicle, to defend yourself. Based upon the castle doctrine, we did not feel that we could charge Mr. Hamilton with any kind of a homicide charge.”
The newspaper reported that "A three-prosecutor panel approved a charge of improper handling of a firearm inside a vehicle and trafficking in less than five grams of heroin against Hamilton, 20, of Dayton. A grand jury has been subpoenaed to determine if Hamilton will be indicted on the charges, according to Common Pleas Court records."
On Friday, Miller's mother, Kim Irvin, and his siblings, Anita Straight, Erica Miller and Scott Deaton, met with the prosecutor's office.
"They said they can't go forward with a trial because of the castle doctrine from 2008, which gives you the right to use deadly force if you're under attack in a car or house. They said Travis had apparently dove into the car and was holding on to the guy trying to get his money or whatever. But he was shot in the back," Straight said.
A witness in the case, according to Straight, told police that Miller had been in a fight with Hamilton "to get his money, so they didn't have enough evidence to go further. But (Travis) was unarmed."
"I think anyone might have reacted like that," Irvin said. "If someone has done you wrong, wouldn't you go confront them? That doesn't mean (Travis) was the one who first caused it."
Miller's family said they want to see justice served.
"We're not going away. We're going to keep on writing to the state Senate and (Legislature) to get this law to go away. There have been other cases where people have gotten out of it because of this self-defense thing. We're going to try to pass a law called 'Travis's Law."
Straight said, "We want to make it part of the law that if the person attacking you is not armed, you shouldn't be allowed to use deadly force with a weapon."
"I have to get justice for my son," Irvin said. "We're hoping we can find an attorney who can help us out in some way. I feel like there has to be a loophole in some way. I feel like they're listening to (the suspect), and Travis isn't around to say what happened. We're trying to prove what happened. We're speaking for Travis."
Travis's sister, Erica Miller, said, "You shouldn't be shot in the back and it be self-defense."
"It's like you don't care about the victim," Straight said.
In a 2010 story by the Columbus Dispatch that examined cases where the castle doctrine had been argued, the newspaper wrote, "The castle doctrine states that people are presumed to be acting in self-defense when they use deadly force and injure or kill someone who illegally enters their occupied home or vehicle. But critics say the law is silent about the appropriate level of force in response to threats, as well as the fault or criminal conduct of people who create situations that imperil themselves."
Rob Junk, a Pike County prosecutor, told The Dispatch in that story that, "It was not made to protect drug dealers from drug dealers, but that's how it's being used."
The Dispatch cited two cases, a Pike County case and a Franklin County case, noting that, "In rural Pike County, a man who ripped off a drug dealer's wares shot the dealer through the heart after he broke a window in an attempt to enter the defendant's car. Defense attorneys contended that the man acted lawfully. A jury convicted him of reckless homicide rather than murder. In Franklin County, a man fatally stabbed an acquaintance who pushed his way into the defendant's home during an argument. His attorneys said the law granted him an absolute right to defend himself with deadly force. The prosecution countered that the law 'is not a license to commit murder.'"
Central Ohio coordinator for the Buckeye Firearms Association, Steve Loos, defended the law in 2010, telling The Dispatch that defense attorneys were "misusing" the law, but that the castle doctrine was necessary to protect people against intruders.
"That's not the intent of the law. They are misusing it. It gives the presumption you are in the right if you use force against an intruder," Loos said. "I don't see that hampering the ability of prosecutors to pursue cases."
But Travis Miller's family feels that the law has done just that and prevented their loved one's case from even being presented to a grand jury.
"I don't want other families to have to go through what we're going through to get justice," Irvin said.
A vigil for Travis was set for Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. at the Highland County Courthouse. The family wants to pay tribute to his memory and try to raise funds for his gravestone.
"He was loved by so many people," Irvin said. "There were over 200 people who came to his visitation. He never talked bad about anybody. I love all my kids, each in their own way, but he was special. He'd look at me with that crooked grin of his - just like his grandpa - and he'd tell you, 'I got your back' or 'I got you,' and he could always make me feel better."
His siblings agreed that he was a loving person.
"He was an incredible person," said his brother, Scott Deaton. "We were best friends."
Sister Erica said, "He was always there when you needed him."
Irvin said that they put a picture of Travis and his daughter on the grave's monument "because we wanted her to see it and know that her dad loved her."
It also features a catchphrase his family said he was known for: "I love you. Just sayin'."
"My son was 19 years old," Irvin said. "His birthday is next month. There may be other families that this happened to, but he was my son. He's the only one I can fight for."[[In-content Ad]]