In the late summer of 2020, the life of Jimmy James Patrick Miller, a 49-year-old man from Montpelier, Indiana, was brought to a tragic and abrupt end. On September 5, 2020, in Portland, Indiana, a dispute over a motorcycle sale escalated to a fatal confrontation. Miller, a father of six and a grandfather of ten, known for his love of Harley Davidson motorcycles, was fatally shot with a semi-automatic handgun. The man responsible for his death was Roger L.
Boyd Jr., a 36-year-old former Jay County Sheriff's Deputy.
The incident unfolded in Boyd's garage, where he encountered Miller. Boyd would later claim to investigators that he acted in self-defense. However, the narrative that emerged during the subsequent legal proceedings painted a different picture. The conflict between the two men was rooted in a disagreement concerning the sale of a motorcycle. This disagreement ultimately led to the deadly shooting that claimed Miller's life.
Following an investigation into the shooting, Roger L. Boyd Jr. was arrested and charged with the murder of Jimmy James Patrick Miller. In June 2022, a Jay Circuit Court jury found Boyd guilty of the crime, rejecting his self-defense argument. The conviction brought a measure of justice for Miller's family. Boyd faced a maximum of 65 years in prison for the murder, with his sentencing scheduled for the following month. During his incarceration pending trial, Boyd had reportedly been threatened and attacked by other inmates while being held at the Jay County jail.
