JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It’s a murder mystery made more inexplicable by time: who killed Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Detective Lonnie Miller?
His end of watch was May 6, 1995 at 11 p.m. The detective died from a single gunshot wound to his chest.
Lonnie Miller Jr., a retired JSO officer, said that over the years the mystery has haunted him.
“I got a call about 11:25 and one of the guys said we heard that your father had been shot,” Miller Jr. said. “When I see young people in the grocery store, sometimes they always ask how are things going? Have they found your father’s killer yet? And, of course, I would tell them, ‘No.’”
He said that every time he made an arrest, he would wonder if the person in handcuffs is his father’s killer. His father was the detective who wore an eye patch, who provided security for celebrities and was street savvy.
“He had people on the streets that would talk to him and would tell him anything,” Miller Jr. said.
Former Sheriff Nat Glover was just elected to the position in 1995 when he was thrust into the middle of the investigation.
“People were taking it personal,” he said. “When you lose one of your own – that was a hard pill for a lot of us at that time to swallow.”
The investigative effort into who killed Lonnie Miller was intensive, calling for thousands of man-hours and many late nights. It involved the FBI and FDLE. There are hundreds of pages in the files and give a snapshot into what happened.
The files show that Miller responded to a burglary alarm at a friend’s business. When he arrived, patrol units were already at the location. After a quick check of the premises, officers learned it was a false alarm.
Patrol officers left while Miller and his friend, Abdullah Shah, remained behind to chat.
Shad told investigators at the time that the pair talked for about twenty minutes before a black male walked up from behind. He warned them, “Don’t move or I’ll bust a cap in you.”
Shah was shot twice and Miller just once. Shah told investigators that he checked on Miller and found that his friend was beyond help. He decided to leave the detective there and drove to University Medical Center for treatment.
“I felt sorry for him, and his family – and that he also received injuries and I hope that he would be a man of his word,” Miller Jr. said, “and he did the best he could to help my father.”
In the early stages of the investigation, Shad was treated as a suspect, but that changed. First Coast News reached out to Shad, but he declined to comment.
Miller Jr. said he didn’t think his father was killed in some sort of hit. Instead, he said he believed it was just a robbery.
State Attorney Angela Corey was an assistant state attorney when the shooting happened.
“It is upsetting. And every year, when I see Lonnie Miller Jr., it revives all the memories and desires to solve this heinous crime,” she said.
There were many suspects at the time. “The Hayes brothers – somebody named Keshawn – the names just run through your head and you go, ‘how many times do I get called over to the homicide office' and you think you have a good lead,” Corey said. “There just wasn’t enough to create a probable cause, much less proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Corey said that even though it’s been 21 years, she hasn’t given up on the case.
“I always stand willing to review this case with JSO and look into any aspect that will help us solve this crime,” she said.
Near the end of the investigation, convicted murderer Presley Alston confessed to killing Miller – but then he recanted his story.
September 1997: More than a year since he was shot, a decision was made not to prosecute Alston in Miller’s death – so the investigation was suspended.
“It never leaves you,” Corey said, “it never leaves the detective.”
It also never leaves the family. The case may be cold, but hope is still burning hot. A memorial bears his image and a city park carries his name. But what the family really longs for, they said, is closure.
“It has been 21 years and no one wants a case to go on that long,” Miller Jr. said. “It will eventually be solved. If not here, now on Earth – we know God will be the final judge.”
They, like everyone else, would like to know who killed detective Lonnie Miller.