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Two men accused of murder in a deadly dispute between neighbors in Abilene, Texas, were arrested a second time after the video of the shooting had made headlines.
The police took John Miller, 67, and his son, Michael Miller, 31, into custody on Friday, citing "great concern" for the community. They are charged with murder upon the death of Aaron Howard, 37 years old. Father and son were arrested for the first time on September 1, the day of the shooting, and were released after paying a $ 25,000 bail each.
The district attorney filed a petition Friday declaring that the initial bond was insufficient and the court agreed, said Abilene police chief Stan Standridge in a statement. The millers are back in jail, said Standridge, each with a $ 250,000 bail.
Standridge did not say why the county attorney waited 20 days after the incident to file his motion. On Thursday, the day before the filing, the local and national media published a video of the argument and filming, which quickly circulated, sparking conversations on social networks in Abilene and across the country.
Neither the prosecutor's office nor the police service responded to requests for comment.
In a brief interview with the Washington Post the day before their arrest again, the Millers refused to discuss the charges against them.
"I really do not have a comment one way or the other," said John Miller by phone, "it's something that I feel is a private affair between me and the state of Texas."
[‘You pulled a gun in front of my kids over a mattress,’ the man said. Then he was shot dead.]
The video came after Kara Box, Howard's wife and witness to the shooting, made it public at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which published it. Box's cell phone sequence, which lasts two and a half minutes, shows a dispute between the two suspects and the victim.
The dispute began with a disagreement over the provision of a mattress in an alley adjacent to the Miller and Howard homes, Box said at the Star-Telegram. (The police say it was a box spring.)
Box and Howard had thrown the mattress in the trash a few days earlier, she said. But on September 1st, they saw the mattress on their property. Howard put it back in the dumpster. Box said that nieces, nephews and Howard's brothers were with them. She told the paper that she and her husband then watched former Miller walk towards the dumpster, pull the mattress and throw it on Howard's property.
Box told KTXS, a local television channel, that it was the first time the neighbors had spoken to each other.
Howard and Miller started shouting against each other, Box said. Then John Miller pulled a pistol from his shorts and his son came with a shotgun. Box started recording.
In the video, we can see John Miller holding his handgun by his side. Behind him, Michael Miller is resting a rifle on his shoulder, behind his head, his other hand in the front pocket of his jeans. The millers are shirtless.
"Move back. . . . If you approach me, I'll kill you, said John Miller calmly.
In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Box said Howard was protecting his family, especially his nephews and nieces – whom he refers to as "my kids" in the video.
"I'm at the dumpster," shouts Howard. "Put the gun on and enter. You shot a gun in front of my children. . . a mattress.
The three begin to insult each other and Howard tells the Millers, "I promise you both of you are dead. . . . I'm going to kill you."
On Friday, police said that when the first shots were fired, Howard had a bat in his hand but was about seven feet from the Millers. After the first two shots, the police said that Howard was not armed, but the Millers fired again.
Howard KTXS died from gunshot wounds and shotgun in the chest. The Millers admitted the murder, the police said. It is not immediately clear who would represent the father and the son in court.
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