A 41-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy have been booked on suspicion of murder after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy died from a gunshot wound he suffered during a drug raid in South Central Los Angeles.
Deputy Jack B. Miller, who was shot in the head, died at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 9, a County-USC Medical Center spokeswoman said. Another deputy wounded in the raid, John Dickenson, 29, was treated for a gunshot wound and released from Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood.
Miller and Dickenson were among six peace officers attacked during the weekend in a series of unrelated violent incidents involving lawmen.
Miller’s alleged assailants, Dorothy Waters, 41, and the 17-year-old boy, were booked on suspicion of murder and possession of cocaine for sale, a sheriff’s spokesman said. Waters and the youth had been taken into custody after a gun battle at a home in the 1400 block of West 55th Street.
A third suspect was found dead in the house several hours later, and two others were questioned and released. Deputies reported that they confiscated 202 grams of cocaine, four handguns and a rifle from the house.
Miller, 33, a narcotics detective who worked out of the Lennox Station, was a 12-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department. He was married and the father of two children. Miller was the first deputy to be killed in the line of duty this year. Last year, Deputy Charles Anderson was killed when he surprised a burglar in his home, Deputy Van Mosley said.
At the Lennox Station, other officers offered a few grim words when they were asked about Miller.
“This is a bad time, an extremely bad time . . . We’re losing our friends . . . Good men are getting killed for doing their job,” said Deputy Gary Coniglio.