Accused Kissimmee cop killer in Orange jail after force incident

Accused Kissimmee cop killer Everett Miller was moved from the Osceola County Jail after a corrections officer used force on him earlier this month, a spokeswoman said. Miller was booked into the Orange County Jail on Friday, records show.

Hope Hicka, spokeswoman for the Osceola County Jail, declined to get into specifics about the incident other than to say it happened April 1 and it’s being investigated.

“There is currently an internal investigation being conducted regarding a use of force that occurred on April 1, 2018,” she said in an e-mail. “I cannot yet speak about that investigation because it is ongoing; however, the move was done for reasons associated with the investigation.”

It’s unclear how long he’ll stay in Orange County, she said. Inmates who are involved in use of force investigations are sometimes moved out of the jail, Hicka said.

Miller is accused of gunning down Kissimmee Officer Matthew Baxter and Sgt. Richard “Sam” Howard last August during a traffic stop. Kissimmee police said that after shooting the officers, he went to Roscoe’s bar on Orange Blossom Trail, where he was arrested.

He’s charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces the death penalty.

Miller, 46, has had a spotty discipline record while at the Osceola County Jail. He was disciplined in January after he threatened an employee during a recorded phone call with his brother, according to records.

During the Dec. 17 phone call, he said he wanted to “strangle” a mental health counselor.

“Yes I’m talking about you, Ms. Mendoza ... I know the phone is recorded,” he said, according to jail documents.

Miller admitted to making the statement but said that he was just frustrated and didn’t mean it.

He was sentenced to 20 days of disciplinary confinement, 20 days’ loss of commissary access and 20 days loss of telephone privileges, jail officials said. While in disciplinary confinement, Miller was housed alone in a cell and only allowed out for showers three times a week.

He also was accused by a jailhouse informant of saying Baxter and Howard “deserved” to be killed.

Miller, who was discharged in 2010 from the U.S. Marine Corps after a 21-year career, had been involuntarily committed under Florida’s Baker Act about a month before the shooting. Family members said during that incident, he was dressed only in his boxers with a rifle in his hands. They believe he was struggling with re-entering civilian life and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He had posted anti-police messages on social media before the killings, prompting Orlando police to send out an alert to its officers about him being potentially dangerous.

His next court date is in May.