Adaisha Miller Killed: Detroit chief calls fatal hug at weekend party a 'freak accident'

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Eddie Miller, left, looks at Yolanda McNair as she holds a picture of their daughter, Adaisha Miller, in Detroit, Monday, July 9, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Mike Householder

(CBS/AP) DETROIT - Detroit's police chief is calling a shooting that killed a woman just before her 25th birthday a tragic "freak accident." Police said Adaisha Miller was dancing with Officer Issac Parrish early Sunday morning when she hugged him from behind. His gun, which was in a waist holster, went off, and the bullet punctured Miller's lung and hit her heart. She died at a hospital.

Police Chief Ralph Goodbee told reporters at a news conference Monday that the officer is "very remorseful."

Godbee says the gun was in a waist holster made of soft material that would have allowed the trigger to be pulled. He says there's no evidence the officer fired the gun.

"Somehow, in the course of dancing with the individual to his rear and touching his waist, his Detroit Police Department-issued weapon discharged, striking Ms. Miller," Godbee said. "There is absolutely no indication that the officer placed his hand on his weapon at all."

Miller was celebrating the weekend before her 25th birthday on Monday, said her mother, Yolanda McNair. She was invited to the Saturday night fish fry at Parrish's home by friends who knew him, McNair said.

Detroit police officers have the option of carrying their weapons while off-duty. The model issued by the department has a safety mechanism built into the trigger.

The Smith & Wesson M&P primarily was designed for police and military use. It does not have a safety switch, but the trigger has to be pulled back completely for the gun to fire, certified firearms instructor Rick Ector said.

Meanwhile, Parish, 38, is still on desk duty while the case is fully investigated.

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by chelleoj July 11, 2012 7:41 AM EDT: The Detroit Police Department should not be investigating this incident themselves, given that the incident involves one of their own officers. In Grand Rapids and its neighboring cities, any incident occurring in a jurisdiction involving one of its officers, is voluntarily investigated by an outside police department, usually the Michigan State Police.
Even if the Detroit police officer was completely blameless, a clearing of his name by his own department will be seen with far more suspicion than would an impartial outside department. The Wayne County Prosecutors' Office is apparently also investigating, but since those prosecutors work with Detroit police officers every day, their findings may be met with the same skepticism as Detroit's.; Reply to this comment


by pdp1171 July 10, 2012 7:59 PM EDT: Why are the police commenting on an open investigation?
Holes in clothing and powder burns on clothing will reveal
the truth.; Reply to this comment


by crashdummy38 July 10, 2012 3:08 PM EDT: Law enforcement people want a simple to use handgun, draw, point and shoot
therefore S&W M&Ps and Glocks do not have any external safety or an external hammer. . The safety is part of the trigger. To fire, simply pull the trigger. Trigger pull is long and not a hair trigger. There are schoulder holsters that point the weapon to the rear and apparantly one of these was in use.; Reply to this comment

by talis4 July 10, 2012 2:57 PM EDT

Really!!???
You people actually believe this crock of sh*t? If this homicidal bozo wasn't a cop, he would be in jail charged with first degree murder.

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by Truth_Bee_Told July 10, 2012 4:05 PM EDT: Because you were there, right?

by mjlewis6 July 10, 2012 2:32 PM EDT

This weapon could have had the hammer pulled back if loose since the weight of the gun could slide the weapon back down into the holster while the hammer is caught at the top. Does not take much of a jostle to fire with him dancing and bowing and his rear pointed at her and her leaning towards him from behind. Yes, it is plausible. Tragic, but this is without the judgment of having
a weapon on his person while dancing. NOT a good idea and we have consequences.

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by azlefti July 10, 2012 5:04 PM EDT: This type of gun does not have a "hammer" it what is called Striker fire, everything is contained within the slide of the pistol


by prm777 July 10, 2012 1:46 PM EDT: This story doesn't make any sense. What kind of holster would allow the gun to point upward and/or for the trigger to be pulled while the gun was holstered???; Reply to this comment

by RichZubaty July 10, 2012 1:15 PM EDT

There is no such thing as "having a safety mechanism in the trigger". It's right up there with saying his gun had a barrel facing backwards. The whole point of a safety is for it to be located apart from the trigger so it takes two separate movements to fire the weapon.

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by Truth_Bee_Told July 10, 2012 4:06 PM EDT: you are 100% wrong

by mkelley9849 July 10, 2012 12:49 PM EDT

None of this makes any sense. Waist holsters hold the weapon with the muzzle pointing straight down to the ground. If the weapon was holstered at the officer's waist, how exactly did the bullet strike her in the lung and heart if she were dancing behind him? How does one press hard enough on that holster in exactly the right place, between the trigger and trigger guard, to actually pull the trigger? If that's true, then the gun had to be pointing backwards and upwards (if she was, in fact, dancing behind the officer) and she would have had to push the trigger, not pull it. This just does not add up.

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by you_MAY_be_right July 10, 2012 1:57 PM EDT: Suppose she was in a squatting position behind him?


by lesserof2evil July 10, 2012 12:31 PM EDT: So a police officer threw a party at his own home, and he carry a concealed weapon. Talk about paranoia, stupidity, **** poor judgement. Do you/we want such an individual to be a police officer? Call it what you want, but it is not a freaky accident.; Reply to this comment


by ahendryx819 July 10, 2012 11:35 AM EDT: "The Smith & Wesson M&P primarily was designed for police and military use. It does not have a safety switch, but the trigger has to be pulled back completely for the gun to fire,"

OK, so how the hell could the trigger have been pulled back completely by her dancing behind him? I'm straight confused now...; Reply to this comment