By Karen Middleton
A veteran reportedly home from Iraq just a month was found dead in his kitchen Tuesday of a gunshot wound.
Athens Police were called to 18508 Alabama 127 at 1:41 p.m. Tuesday, according to Police Chief Wayne Harper, and found the man dead in a kitchen dining area near the back door.
At about 6 p.m. Tuesday Lt. Floyd Johnson confirmed the identity of the victim as James Ellis Miller, 59.
“We have ruled the shooting this afternoon a homicide,” said Johnson in an e-mailed release. “At this time we do not have a suspect in custody.”
He said the victim had been shot, but did not divulge how many wounds he suffered. He said the shooting is under investigation and the body had been sent to the state forensic lab for an autopsy.
A neighbor reportedly heard what he said sounded like two rifle shots at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday but thought the shots came from hunters.
The home is located north of Elm Street and south of McClung Drive.
Harper said someone had gone to check on the man and saw his body through the back door and alerted police. The chief did not identify the victim, but members of his church who stopped when they saw police cars and the coroner’s van, said that James and Donna Miller live at that address.
Amanda Pylant, who said she attends church with the Millers at First Church on Lucas Ferry Road, said Donna Miller and her daughter, Jessie, were due home today from a mission trip to Guatemala.
Another church member who stopped but didn’t identify herself, said James Miller was retired from the military and had returned from Iraq about a month ago.
Johnson had said Tuesday afternoon the home did not appear to have been ransacked and said no gun was found.
As well as numerous police officers and investigators, District Attorney Kristi Valls’ chief investigator Bobby Smith was on the scene until evening.
