Darryl Miller’s death is now the subject of murder and auto theft charges against a 19-year-old man.
GARY, Ind. — Darryl Miller’s friends went to his Gary home after days of silence, saw what appeared to be a body inside and called police, leading to a murder charge against a 19-year-old man.
Miller, 71, was known to some witnesses as a man who let people without housing stay with him, according to police summaries of witness interviews. That detail has become part of the homicide investigation because witnesses identified Cameion Askia Brown as someone who had stayed at Miller’s home before Miller was found dead. Brown is charged with murder and auto theft. The case now turns on what happened inside the home in the 2200 block of Rhode Island Street, where police say Miller was beaten, bound and wrapped before officers arrived.
The first alarm did not come from a traffic stop or a formal missing-person report. It came from people who knew Miller through church and noticed that he had fallen out of contact. At about 4:01 p.m. April 12, Gary officers were sent to Miller’s home for a welfare check. The friends had gone there to check on his well-being and reported seeing what appeared to be a body. Police entered the residence and found Miller dead in a bedroom. He was on the floor, wrapped in blankets and sheets, with duct tape around his feet. Court records later described the body as being in a state of decomposition.
Inside the room, investigators found signs that the final moments may have been violent. Police said a mattress had been flipped over and that the bedroom was in disarray. The Lake County Coroner’s Office later ruled the death a homicide after finding multiple blunt force injuries to Miller’s head and torso. Investigators also reported a broken jaw, fractured ribs, a punctured lung and dislocated fingers, along with injuries they said were consistent with defensive wounds. The injuries, the condition of the room and the way Miller was found shaped the case from a welfare check into a murder investigation.
Witnesses told police that Brown had been with Miller before the discovery. Several said they last saw the two together days earlier, including at church. Others grew worried after receiving messages from Brown that said Miller was “sick” and “quiet for a while,” according to court records. One witness told investigators that Brown had recently been staying at the residence. Another reported seeing someone who looked like Brown leaving around the time investigators believe the killing occurred. Police have not publicly released a complete hour-by-hour timeline for Miller’s final days, and they have not said exactly when they believe he died.
The focus shifted beyond Miller’s home when officers realized his Honda Accord was missing. The vehicle was later found in Porter County, where police said Brown was driving it. A Westville police officer tried to stop the car, but Brown fled, according to investigators. The pursuit reached Interstate 94 near the 26-mile marker. A Town of Porter police officer then used a PIT maneuver, stopping the vehicle and ending the chase. Brown was arrested at the scene. Police said he later told detectives he ran because he knew he was in a stolen car.
Brown’s alleged statements to detectives became a central part of the case. Investigators said he admitted staying with Miller, whom he referred to as “Pops.” Brown claimed the fight began after Miller “started to touch him inappropriately,” according to the affidavit. He allegedly said he knocked Miller down, then punched and kicked him. Detectives said Brown told them Miller was still breathing when he wrapped him in blankets and bound him, but later changed that account and said Miller was already dead. When detectives asked why he fled from police, Brown allegedly said, “I am done like fried chicken.”
Authorities have not publicly answered every question raised by the witness accounts and Brown’s statements. The charging records do not include a statement from Miller because he was dead when police arrived. The public summaries do not say whether investigators have completed testing on the duct tape, bedding, clothing, shoe impressions or the inside of the Honda. Police said Brown wore shoes consistent with impressions believed to have been left at the scene, but they have not released the full forensic file. Prosecutors will have to present the evidence in court while Brown has the right to challenge it.
The Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force worked with Gary police on the case, and Detective James Nielsen secured formal charges April 14. Brown faces one count of murder and one count of auto theft. Court records show Brown also had pending cases involving battery against a public safety official, theft and resisting law enforcement. Those cases are separate from Miller’s death. If convicted of murder, Brown could face up to 65 years in prison. Officials said the killing appeared isolated and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.
The investigation also drew help from agencies outside Gary, including Indiana State Police, Indiana State Excise Police, East Chicago police, the Lake County Coroner’s Office, the Lake County CSI Division and Town of Porter police. Their roles reflected the path of the case from a quiet home on Rhode Island Street to a highway stop in Porter County. For Miller’s friends, the case began with a simpler concern: a man they knew had gone silent, and no one could explain why.
For the people who went to Rhode Island Street looking for Miller, the case began with worry over a missing friend. It now continues as a murder prosecution built around the final days of a man others had tried to reach.
Author note: Last updated May 7, 2026.