Police chase homicide leads; friends 'can't believe'

Friends of John Kelley Miller, a Waynesboro man found dead in the South River Friday night, spent the next day lamenting what they called a “stupid” and “unbelievable” end to his life.

Waynesboro police identified Miller, 44, and investigated his death as a homicide Saturday by interviewing his acquaintances, combing through the woods near the riverside and following leads stemming from an anonymous phone call.

Police Sgt. Kelly Walker said Saturday that detectives traced the anonymous tip to a pay phone at the Wilco gas station on North Delphine Avenue, almost a mile from the crime scene, where they collected surveillance video footage and DNA evidence.

He would not comment about Miller’s cause or time of death, and not about suspects or motives.

“We are following leads now,” Walker said. “We need anybody that has any information.”

Shaun Reynolds, one Miller’s many friends who gathered in an apartment at 260 N. Commerce Ave., racked his brain for answers.

“It’s crazy, man. When it comes to it, it’s just stupid,” Reynolds said. “To hear about somebody getting killed – it’s just stupid. What would be the motive?”

Tiffany “Tick” Carter said she’s known Miller since she moved into the building.

“We all hung out and talked with him,” Carter said. “He played with the kids.”

Reynolds and Carter said a car crash years before left Miller with a limp, but the hiccup in his leg never stifled his independence. They laughed as they recalled memories of Miller refusing help to stand after he’d had too much to drink.

“When I found out what happened [Friday], I couldn’t believe someone would do something like that,” Reynolds said. “Me and him, we got into it last year, but I’ve never thought about hurting him.”

Since 2005, Waynesboro police charged Miller more than two dozen times, including on counts of public intoxication, assault and battery and fishing without a license, court records show.

In a June 2009 interview about living at the apartment complex where police perform daily patrols, Miller said he’d “seen it all” in eight months there.

While smoking a cigarette on the building’s front stoop, as he did periodically during the days, Miller spoke quietly, without reservation, about drunken fights that could spring at any time.

“This could be a good place to live,” he said.

Miller lived at the building with his girlfriend, friends said.

Authorities found Miller laying on his back, partially submerged, with his arms crossed over his chest Friday night in water about 1 foot deep under a train trestle downriver from the Broad Street bridge.

After rain, darkness and lightning suspended the death investigation Friday night, officers resumed at about 7 a.m. Saturday, Walker said.

Within two hours, officers had found items possibly related to the case, he said. Detectives also interviewed people in the Port Republic Road area and others who knew Miller.

In all, about 15 officers helped comb the area for clues, Walker said.

A medical examiner finished an autopsy on Miller Saturday afternoon, but police declined to release a cause of death.

Getting such information quickly is pertinent to a homicide investigation, Walker said.

“It’s really important,” he said. “It begins to help corroborate and put things together.”

The last homicide in Waynesboro occurred in November 2008, a stabbing that led to a manslaughter conviction for Eva Ester Hamby, 51, of the “Holly House” at 720 King Ave.

In the wake of finding Miller, police investigated a small tent community a short walk from the banks of the South River. In a clearing in the woods, four empty tents stood among tools, empty beer bottles and articles of clothing.

Walker said police investigated the area because of its proximity to the body.

“There wasn’t anybody back there,” he said.

Still feeling his absence, Miller’s friends expressed their feelings as best they could: with questions asked out loud and memories of good times with him.

“You read about it in the newspapers and see it on TV and stuff,” Reynolds said. “But when it hits home it’s a whole different thing. I’m gonna miss him.”

“Me too,” Carter said.

“At least he’s somewhere better,” Reynolds responded. “I’m gonna miss the hell out of him.”