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78-year-old kills woman he wrongly thought was part of his sex-abuse trial, NC cops say

Quintia Miller, 26, was staying with family when she was fatally shot Oct. 3, North Carolina cops say.
Quintia Miller, 26, was staying with family when she was fatally shot Oct. 3, North Carolina cops say. Screengrab from Dini Hue's Facebook post.

A 26-year-old woman was fatally shot after a man mistook her for someone else, authorities in North Carolina say.

Quintia Miller was staying at Rowan Point Apartments in Mocksville when she was killed Monday, Oct. 3, according to a new release posted Facebook from Davie County Sheriff’s Office.

Harold Reid Jr., 78, has been taken into custody for the shooting and and faces a murder charge, according to the news release.

Reid was due in court Monday to be tried for first-degree sexual offense and indecent liberties with a child, according to the news release. Officials believe that Reid went to the apartment complex looking for someone who was involved in the case against him. Once there, Reid mistook Miller for the person he was looking for and confronted her before shooting her, the sheriff’s post said.

Officers with the United States Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force and Davie County Sheriff’s Office were at the apartment complex around 7:30 a.m. Monday morning looking for a wanted person in an unrelated case when they heard gunshots, the Facebook post says.

When law enforcement responded to the scene, deputies say an officer with the U.S. Marshals fired his weapon at the suspect. The suspect was not injured and deputies were able to take him into custody.

The officers did not locate the wanted person they were searching for at the complex.

Anyone with information related to this case can contact detectives at 336-751-6238 or at sheriff@dcsonc.com.

Mocksville is about 60 miles northeast of Charlotte.

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This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 3:51 PM with the headline "78-year-old kills woman he wrongly thought was part of his sex-abuse trial, NC cops say."

Moira Ritter
mcclatchy-newsroom
Moira Ritter covers real-time news for McClatchy. She is a graduate of Georgetown University where she studied government, journalism and German. Previously, she reported for CNN Business.
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