Tarell McMillian, accused of killing Officer Horan at a Greensboro Food Lion, made his first court appearance Thursday as Horan’s family and officers looked on.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — On Thursday, the suspect, 34-year-old Tarell McMillian, who is accused of killing Greensboro Police Officer Michael Horan, appeared in court virtually.
It was an emotional hearing this morning as McMillian was before a judge for the first time.
Horan’s family, surrounded by officers, looked on as Tarell McMillian appeared through a video call.
He is accused of shooting and killing Horan inside the Food Lion on Lawndale Drive Monday morning.
He faces first-degree murder, carrying a maximum of up to life in prison, or the death penalty, coupled with an additional 39 months for two additional felonies.
Neither the defense nor the prosecution spoke at length today. But we did hear from McMillian very briefly at the end of the hearing.
“That concludes our first hearing,” said Judge Michelle Fletcher. “I have a question ma’am. Am I allowed to ask a question?” said Tarell McMillian, suspect. The video then is turned off.
I spoke with a criminal defense attorney who said, with so little known about the incident, it’s hard to decide what arguments each side will take. But he did say they will probably include the following circumstances that worsen the crime of killing Horan.
“The fact that he’s a police officer is an aggravating factor, whether or not the defendant has a prior felony record, especially a felony record for violent assault,” said Robert O’Hale, criminal defense attorney. “If he put other people in danger, which may be the case in a grocery store which is a public venue. I don’t know how crowded it was, but that can be an aggravating factor.”
And for the defense’s argument, he says Officer Horan’s body camera video will play a huge role. If it was on, what does it show? Also, depending on who initiated the struggle. Regardless, he says it’s an uphill battle.
“Arguably if it’s a struggle he could claim some kind of self-defense, but if he goes in there armed that’s a problem. And if he starts the physical confrontation then that’s not a defense,” said Robert O’Hale, criminal defense attorney.
We expect to find out more at McMillian’s next hearing. Why was he in the store? What led up to the shooting? Along with more details. He is due back in court on March 20th.
McMillian doesn’t seem to have a criminal history in North Carolina, according to online court documents.
On Tuesday, WFMY spoke with someone who said McMillian was her Instacart shopper that morning. She got a notification that she was assigned Tarell Isaac McMillian. Sheila Gonzalez said things seemed normal until there was an abrupt stop in the order.
“He started doing the shopping and when he was nearly finished, according to the app it took a very long time. I wasn’t getting any alerts then all of a sudden it said you’ve been canceled and reassigned to a different shopper,” Gonzalez said.
On Thursday, a spokesperson with Instacart provided the following statement to News 2:
“We’re heartbroken to learn of the loss of Officer Michael Horan of the Greensboro Police Department. This kind of violence is truly incomprehensible, and we’re deeply saddened by this devastating event. Our teams are working with law enforcement and the Food Lion team to assist in any way we can in this investigation.”
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