Man faces capital murder charge in shooting of deputy constable
Officials believe suspect, 19, shot three officers; one still hospitalized
A man accused of killing Harris County Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Kareem Atkins was underage in a Houston bar and with several others prior to the shooting in October that also wounded two other law enforcement officials.
The arrest Sunday morning of Eddie Alberto Miller in Richmond comes two months after the shooting, which authorities likened to an ambush. Investigators eyed Miller, 19, as a suspect in the shooting early on and believe he shot the three deputies as they tried detaining someone he knew, according to court documents.
Miller has been charged with capital murder in Atkins’ death.
He also faces charges of attempted capital murder and aggravated assault of a police officer. Deputies Darryl Garrett, 28, and Juqaim Barthen, 26, were also shot. Constable Mark Herman said Monday that Garrett remains hospitalized.
“Some days are good, some days are bad — he continues to fight the good fight,” Herman said at a news conference at Houston Police Department headquarters.
All three deputies were working an extra security job Oct. 16 at 45 Norte Sports Bar in the 4400 block of North Freeway when they were shot around 2:15 a.m. from behind while detaining a possible robbery suspect, authorities have said. Police said they believe the weapon was an AR-15-style firearm.
Investigators were aware of Miller’s link to the shooting for several weeks prior to his arrest, Police Chief Troy Finner said.
Detective Erik Rossow said their investigation started with obtaining surveillance footage and transaction records from the bar — then learning that Miller was with a group of men who reserved a booth there.
Finner would not go into additional detail over what occurred in the moments prior to the shooting or what happened in the two months that followed to garner charges against Miller.
Atkins’ death marked the first fatal shooting of a Precinct 4 deputy in the agency’s history.
His widow, Nadia Atkins, stood alongside authorities at the news conference and addressed her husband’s death.
“He was a great person,” she said. “He loved his job — to know that a kid took him, that’s hard.”
Atkins joined Precinct 4 in January 2019 and had recently returned from paternity leave.
Court records show Miller lived in Richmond and that he was arrested in the 4400 block of Williams Way, near the Southwest Freeway frontage road.
He was denied bail Monday in the capital murder case and is expected to return to court Tuesday.