Pubdate: 1-10-99
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press.
Author: Anthony Breznican

SOCIAL ISSUES:THE FOUR OFFICERS INVOLVED IN TYISHA MILLER'S DEATH MUST BE
PROSECUTED,CLERGYMEN TELL A CROWD OF 500.

Riverside-A young woman shot 12 times by police as she sat in her car with a
gun was remembered Saturday as a churchgoer and living friend whose killers
deserve criminal prosecution.

Nearly 500 people packed New Joy Baptist Church for the funeral of
19-year-old Tyisha Miller, who was killed early Dec. 28 by four police
officers as she sat in her disabled car.

During the three-hour ceremony, clergymen delivered fiery eulogies demanding
the prosecution of the four officers involved in Miller's death.

Standing in front of her casket piled high with pink flowers, the Rev. Paul
Munford called on the congregation to demand justice.

"We don't want it to happen again," Munford said. "We are tired! We are
tired!"

Some have contended that the shooting was racially motivated. Three of the
officers are white, and one is Hispanic; Miller was black.

"Her only crime was sleeping while (being) black," added the Rev. DeWayne
Butler, a cousin of Miller's.

Butler also mocked the Riverside Police Department for changing its story
about the shooting. Investigators initially said Miller fired at officers,
but later said she grabbed at a gun in her lap after an officer broke a
window to help her.

Family members have said Miller was unconscious when she was killed. The
four officers and a white sergeant who were at the scene are on paid leave
during an internal department probe.

The FBI is conducting an inquiry into whether Miller's civil rights were
violated, and her family has asked that an outside agency oversee the
internal investigation. Miller's family has also retained former O.J.
Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. for its lawsuit against the Police
Department.

A Riverside County coroner's report concluded Miller was shot a dozen times
at close range, including four times in the head.

Coroner's officials Thursday said Miller had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13
percent. In California, the legal blood-alcohol limit for driving is 0.08
percent. Traces of marijuana and cannabinoids, a marijuana byproduct, were
also in her system when she died, the report said.

Relatives arranged for a second autopsy to be conducted Thursday by Dr.
Michael Baden, New York City's former chief medical examiner.

- ---
MAP posted-by: Rolf Ernst