Hug triggers officer's gun, kills woman at party for her birthday

[Gypsy Road]

Thanks for the new updates BDE and Reader. Wow...I just don't know what to think of this. Such a bizarre accident - or whatever it was.

 

[Nova]

Who hugs somebody she doesn't know from behind? How intoxicated was Ms. Miller?

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Off-duty Detroit police officer's gun goes off, kills woman

24-year-old Adaisha Miller killed after officer's gun discharges during party

Author: Rod Meloni, Local 4 Business Editor

Published On: Jul 10 2012 05:31:58 PM EDT Updated On: Jul 10 2012 05:40:15 PM EDT

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...an/-/4714498/15468046/-/13ilxnfz/-/index.html

 

[Nova]

So the party was in public, hosted by the officer and his wife, and Ms. Miller crashed it? This seems to be the implication but none of the accounts seem clear about this.

(Of course I'm not suggesting Miller deserved to die for crashing a party or for any other reason.)

ETA: if Miller was fiddling with the officer's belt, she may have intentionally or inadvertently moved the holster, which might account for the angle of the shot. On the other hand, why would an officer let a stranger play with his belt when he knew he had a concealed weapon there?

 

[Jan]

The local news reports yesterday said the police officer was dancing with his wife when the girl tugged on his waist (or hugged him) from behind. He said he didn't know the girl. It seems strange to me that she would go to a party intoxicated, at the home of someone she doesn't know well, and would grab the man around the waist while he is dancing with his wife. It must have been some pretty wild dancing. Its hard to imagine how she got shot in the chest. I'm not surprised though that the officer was wearing his weapon off duty in Detroit. And it does say that the officer wasn't drunk. It sounds like a terrible accident that wouldn't have happened if the girl hadn't been drunk and grabbing onto someone else's husband. She paid a big price for her mistake.

 

[PHB]

Most cops and CO's I know hate going without their guns, even when they're out drinking. My father told me that him and all his buddies would go out drinking with their guns all the time in the 70's and 80's before their were specific prohibitions against LEO's doing so. One of his friends shot and killed an attempted rapist in Queens while drunk, this was in 1980 or so, and didn't get in any trouble w/ the department.
So maybe (presumably) drinking and dancing with his gun on his hip was a regular thing for him. Very sad for all parties.
JMO

ETA: I see the officer passed a breathalyzer at the scene. Sorry for my assumption!

 

[LadyL]

was he being 'hugged' from behind or something else entirely? did she or did she not know the officer and why would she 'hug' a stranger from behind?

the officer was apparently on his own property and it's legal for him to have a gun on him when off-duty - Adaisha was apparently drunk and I believe it was a freak accident, however it happened ... IMO the victim 'pulled' the trigger either thinking it wasn't loaded or thinking she was pulling something else

the talking head in that Detroit news article really annoys me when he says the 'accident' isn't plausible - yeah, actually it's quite plausible because strange things happen when people get drunk

 

[PATX]

Most cops and CO's I know hate going without their guns, even when they're out drinking.

I feel naked without mine. Remember the old American Express commericals....don't leave home without it? That is how I feel about my service weapon.

But I am a non-drinker.

Furthermore, if some strange woman came up and hugged me, she wouldn't have anything to fear from me or my weapon. My wife is a redhead and that is who she should fear!

 

[katydid23]

I absolutely understand why he had his weapon on him, in his own home. He was having a party. That can be a dangerous situation. And he was not drunk according to the breathalyzer. I think it was just a tragic, freak accident.

 

[MayraMM]

I carry an inside the waistband soft holster. There's no way to accidentally pull the trigger. It's also snug, otherwise if I were to draw the gun, it would come out holster and all.

But let's assume he had a hair trigger on his gun. If he's right handed, then the gun would have been on the right side of his body, pointing down. If it was pointing back more, it would be a very awkward draw. But let's assume it was jarred out of position slightly. (He would have felt it had it been way out of place. Carrying a gun is like wearing a watch. After time, you get so used to it being there, you only notice it if it's off kilter). So she had to have been on her knees when she hugged him. Even then, the gun would have have to have been upside down, muzzle pointing back and butt of the handle straight up for her to get shot in the chest.

It really doesn't add up, unless she was on her knees behind him, reached across and unbuckled his pants, and as the pants came down the gun flipped and was in the proper position to get her in the chest. Maybe the trigger got caught on something and fired, but again, that would be odd, considering the safety built into the trigger. It could be when he felt the gun slip, he reached to catch it, and caught the trigger.

Maybe his wife reached to push the girl off her husband . . .

I think this needs to be investigated a little more, because it's just not adding up. Too many unanswered questions. I'd like to know the trajectory of the bullet thru her body, too.

 

[PATX]

I carry an inside the waistband soft holster. There's no way to accidentally pull the trigger. It's also snug, otherwise if I were to draw the gun, it would come out holster and all.

That is what I use as well. I buy my pants a little larger in the waist than I would normally so that I can fit the holster and weapon.

I'm still thinking this story isn't adding up all the way, but then again I am suspicious by nature....

 

[Reader]

Since there were a couple of questions about why she was at the party, this is from one of the links above:

She was invited to the Saturday night fish fry at Parrish's home by friends who knew him, McNair said.

http://centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=<[email protected]>&ps=931

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

July 11, 2012 at 1:00 am

Services set for woman fatally shot while dancing with cop
By Mark Hicks
The Detroit News

Detroit — Services have been set for Adaisha Miller, the woman who was fatally shot Sunday while dancing with an off-duty city police officer.

Visitation is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Hutchison Funeral Home, 6051 E. Seven Mile, Detroit. The funeral is 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home, employees said. Family hour is at 10:30 a.m.

Miller, who would have turned 25 on Monday, was dancing with Officer Isaac Parrish, 38, when she embraced him from behind during a fish fry, Detroit police said...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120711/METRO01/207110370#ixzz20JjTn4es

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I heard the interview with attorney on the radio about an hour ago:

Attorney Raises More Questions About Adaisha Miller’s Death

July 11, 2012 6:10
Reporting Sandra McNeill

DETROIT (WWJ) - She died from a bullet fired by a Detroit Police officer’s gun at a party at his home. But days after the shooting, those are the only facts that are clear in the death of Adaisha Miller...

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/07/11/attorney-raises-more-questions-about-adaisha-millers-death/

 

[MayraMM]

I think the trajectory will help fill in the blanks, as well as finding out why she was there. Could she perhaps have been hired to dance there? Was the off duty cop also drinking? If so, why was he carrying? Was he showing off the gun and it went off, and they needed to explain away such a stupid move from someone who should have known better? Were they all drunk and no one is quite sure what happened? So many questions. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

 

[katydid23]

I think the trajectory will help fill in the blanks, as well as finding out why she was there. Could she perhaps have been hired to dance there? Was the off duty cop also drinking? If so, why was he carrying? Was he showing off the gun and it went off, and they needed to explain away such a stupid move from someone who should have known better? Were they all drunk and no one is quite sure what happened? So many questions. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

He was given a breathalyzer on the scene and was not legally drunk, according to the early reports.

 

[katydid23]

If he had shot this woman, right there at this party, I think we would have heard about it already. He passed the breathalyzer, he was at his own home, with his wife and his friends. I have a hard time believing that he willfully shot this woman on the dance floor.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

If he had shot this woman, right there at this party, I think we would have heard about it already. He passed the breathalyzer, he was at his own home, with his wife and his friends. I have a hard time believing that he willfully shot this woman on the dance floor.

While I realize that Adaisha's mother is a victim, and I'm sorry that she has to endure the sudden loss of her daughter, methinks that "the lady doth protest too much" and wants desperately to blame the off-duty officer for this unfortunate incident. :moo:

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I think the trajectory will help fill in the blanks, as well as finding out why she was there. Could she perhaps have been hired to dance there? Was the off duty cop also drinking? If so, why was he carrying? Was he showing off the gun and it went off, and they needed to explain away such a stupid move from someone who should have known better? Were they all drunk and no one is quite sure what happened? So many questions. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

Adaisha was invited to the party by people who knew the host (the police officer). The off-duty police officer was given a breathalizer test which he passed. The victim was reportedly drunk when she arrived at the party.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I heard a report on WWJ radio (Detroit) this morning while I was in my car but cannot find anything about it on the website. I found this article on the FreePress website as media confirmation that Adaisha's family has hired an attorney. I'm not surprised by this after the comments that Adaisha's mother has made in various local media interviews, but I think that the family should tread carefully and be careful about what they wish for because the investigation might yield unfavorable information about Ms. Miller. :moo:

Family of woman killed by off-duty Detroit police officer's gun hires lawyer

4:27 PM, July 12, 2012

http://www.freep.com/article/201207...ac-Parrish?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE