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Father-Son Duo Shoot Neighbor Dead Over Trash Dispute

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Grace Carr Reporter
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A father and son shot their neighbor to death after the threesome got in a dispute over a mattress that had been thrown out into the trash.

John Miller and his son Michael Miller shot and killed 37-year-old Aaron Howard in Abilene, Texas, on Sept. 1, according to the Star-Telegram. The footage was not published until the Star-Telegram’s Thursday report.

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“It’s been going on for a couple days, and it culminated in today’s violence,” Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge said at a news conference after the incident, explaining that the shooting had followed a disagreement between the neighbors over trash disposal.

“We had thrown out a twin mattress in a dumpster in our alley a few days before the shooting,” Howard’s common-law wife, Kara Box, told the Star-Telegram.

The argument over the trash escalated after 67-year-old John Miller took the mattress and threw it back onto Howard’s property, after which the two threw the mattress back and forth for a few days until Sept. 1 when John Miller and his 31-year-old son Michael Miller confronted Howard. (RELATED: Five Found Dead In Two Texas Shootings, Police Believe The Crimes Are Related)

Box and Howard had moved in next door to the Millers in April but had not met their neighbors until the morning of the shooting, according to Box.

After heated conservation between the neighbors on the morning of Sept. 1, John Miller told Howard, “If you come within 3 feet of me, I’m going to kill you.”

“You’re not going to shoot my husband,” Box responded. Two gunshots rang out, according to the video footage, which also captures Michael Miller firing two more shots afterwards. It appears that the first two shots came from John Miller’s gun after which his son shot Howard twice, but police have not yet confirmed the details of the shooting.

Howard was shot in the head and chest, according to the Star-Telegram.

“I stepped in between Aaron and John (Miller), then my ears started ringing from the gunshots,” Box said in a telephone interview. “I just screamed and screamed.” Howard’s brother was also present at the time of the shooting.

The Millers were arrested shortly after the shooting and have been released after posting $25,000 bail.

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