Ex-cop among 2 Jamaicans held for California murder
Published:Saturday | December 21, 2019 | 12:19 AM
Two Jamaicans, including a former policeman-turned-music producer who were implicated in a California murder and home invasion that was caught on closed-circuit television in October, were arrested by investigators in Miami on Tuesday.
They have been identified by Broward County Sheriff department as 34-year-old Andre Omar Andrews, a resident of Miramar, Florida, and 41-year-old Omar ‘Milla9’ Miller.
Both men were charged on December 17 with murder, criminal conspiracy, and assault with a deadly weapon.
They were held more than a month after investigators released footage of two men entering an Irvine, California, home, where one man was killed and another victim assaulted.
Police identified the slain man as 20-year-old Raymond Alcala.
Investigators theorise that the men went to the home on October 26 to commit a robbery when the murder occurred.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that both suspects are Jamaican nationals.
The police say that the men are held without bond, while Miller has an immigration hold on his file.
PREVIOUS RUN-INS WITH THE LAW
Miller, who dabbled in music production, rose to prominence producing music for incarcerated dancehall star Vybz Kartel and his then Portmore Empire outfit.
There is no court appearance set at this time.
This, however, is not Miller’s first brush with the law, as he was found not guilty of murder in 2011 while serving as a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Miller was one of four policemen who walked free following the murder trial of 18-year-old Grants Pen resident André ‘Kunte’ Thomas after they were acquitted by a 12-member jury.
They were represented by Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Valerie Neita-Robertson, as well as attorneys-at-law Linton Walters, Peter Champagnie and Tamika Harris.
In unsworn statements from the dock, Detective Corporal Noel Bryan, also called ‘Matterhorn’, Corporal Philip Dunstan, and Constables Clayton Fearon and Omar Miller said they acted in self-defence when Thomas pointed a gun at them.
A gun was tendered into evidence as the one taken from Thomas.
The Crown, represented by attorney-at-law Kathy Pyke, had alleged at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that Thomas was killed in cold blood at the Cruiser Gully Bank off Grants Pen Road, St Andrew, on September 28, 2007.
Two of the prosecution witnesses had changed their statements and said they did not witness the shooting.
However, the Crown was relying on the evidence of then government senator Aundré Franklin, who said Thomas had his hands in the air when he was shot.