[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 04/24/21]
FRUITLAND PARK, Florida — A man is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after shooting his wife and daughter with an Air Soft pellet gun, according to an arrest affidavit.
Fruitland Park Police responded to a home on Tropic Circle Thursday and found Jeffrey John Miller, 39, on the back porch of the residence loading a magazine for an Air Soft pellet gun. Miller, who had slurred speech and trouble walking, “was unable to complete a sentence nor a single thought,” the arresting officer noted in the affidavit. “The only thing [Miller] kept saying was he just woke up from a deep sleep, walked out to the back porch and the cops were everywhere.
Before calling police, Miller’s daughter told her stepmother her dad shot her in the back with the pellet gun for no reason. When his wife questioned him, he is alleged to have opened fire on her, striking her in the right knee area. Miller then went back to his daughter’s room and “started to shoot her room up” while she was still in the room, the affidavit states; she was struck four times in the right foot. Her age was unavailable at press time.
Miller’s wife questioned him about missing medication, and he became “argumentative” and scared her and the other four children in the home. They locked themselves in a room in fear of being shot with the pellet gun again and called 9-1-1.
Lake EMS also responded to the scene and after evaluating Miller, they believed him to be under the influence of a controlled substance. Further investigation revealed Miller may have taken as many as 30 pills of two types of medication.
Miller was taken to a local hospital where he continually denied shooting at his family and denied taking any pills, according to the affidavit. Miller was cleared by the hospital and transported to the Lake County Jail.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
