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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
A father's attempt to stand up for his daughter ends in his death and charges against a longtime family friend
Latisha McMillen stood in the doorway of the crowded closet she shared with her husband and put her face into a folded white t-shirt. She took a deep breath into the fabric, then sighed and put it back on a stack of shoeboxes. She kicked another, empty box. 'These had the shoes he died in,' she said that day. 'I'm waiting for (the morgue) to give them back.' Eric McMillen's black and grey sneakers with orange accents and leopard print laces never did get returned. Latisha McMillen couldn't stand to look at her own matching pair, which sat untouched in their closet. But getting dressed Monday morning, Latisha felt the need to wear them to court, where her husband's alleged killer — a longtime friend of the family who had been dating their youngest daughter — was set to come before a judge for the first time. Eric McMillen's phone had rung a little before 7 a.m. April 30 — his daughter was in a fight with that man and needed McMillen to pick her up. Latisha, 50, said he'd listened and done what any father might do. He got up, changed out of the white t-shirt and got in the car. Prosecutors said Flomont Johnson and McMillen's children had all known each other for most of their lives. Johnson shared high school classes with them, the family said. He and the family's youngest daughter had started dating about a year earlier, and he had been part of their Christmas celebration last year, they said. They had pictures of everyone in matching pajamas. McMillen and his son had driven to Johnson's house in Roseland after the dispute, where prosecutors said he spoke briefly to Johnson outside. McMillen's daughter and son were already in the car when he asked to speak to Johnson's mother. At that point, prosecutors alleged that Johnson went back inside and returned with the gun Latisha McMillen said her husband had purchased for their daughter and made sure she was licensed to carry, as well as a second, larger weapon. Johnson allegedly shot McMillen three times as his mother ran down the steps to stop him, prosecutors said. The 52-year-old was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Marquitta Willis, McMillen's oldest daughter, was getting her kids ready for school when she got a brief phone call from her mother. ''They said he's gone,'' said Willis, 34, of that short call. 'Then she hung up.' Now, McMillen's family is staring down life without his romantic advice, terrible dancing and cooking skills. They don't know who will look after the massive fishtank in their South Chicago kitchen. And they were stunned that someone who had such a long history with their family could be the suspect in his death. Prosecutors said Johnson, 28, fled after the shooting to south suburban Markham and then to Gary, Ind. before turning off his phone. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in June, records show, and prosecutors said he was ultimately apprehended in Mississippi. Latisha McMillen put her face in her hands as an assistant state's attorney began to talk through the case Monday afternoon. She leaned on a cousin sitting beside her in the courtroom all through the recitation of the allegations and Johnson's past weapons convictions, public defenders' argument that he had feared for his own safety during the confrontation and Judge John Hock's declaration that Johnson was 'clearly a danger to anybody you might have contact with.' Hock ordered Johnson held pending trial, with a coming court date of Sept. 5. Later, outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Latisha McMillen said she hadn't expected to hear the outlines of Eric's homicide; she hadn't wanted to know. 'I haven't learned to live with it yet,' she said. 'I'm still trying to understand — why my husband?' She'd been angry since he was killed, but she said she felt bad for Johnson that day in court too. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. 'You (allegedly) killed someone, now you're gonna lose your life,' she said. 'You literally made somebody else's life more important than yours.' The last time Erica McMillen — another of the McMillen daughters — talked to her dad, she'd been making plans for her 5-year-old's birthday the next month. Her daughter had requested a ball pit at her party, she said, and Eric McMillen had already set about finding a way to make it happen. Erica, 31, said she often consulted her parents for advice navigating marriage and raising children. Her dad would advise hearing a partner out and would lay out 'the rights and wrongs' of a situation, but would assure his kids that he was on their side as a rule. Her parents had met through family and were together for 32 years, she said. Latisha described herself as a person who could burn a pan of eggs, so she cleaned their family's South Chicago house, while Eric did the cooking and handled the laundry. They ran errands together, coordinated their outfits down to the shoes and talked on the phone to their kids together — though their children said that some of this was due to Eric being a champion eavesdropper on speakerphone conversations. The last of the couple's seven children had moved out earlier this spring. They'd been thrilled to be empty nesters. At the same time, Latisha said Eric was clear with their kids: 'If anything happens, come on back.' The night before her husband's death, they had been debating whether to drive or fly to South Carolina for an anniversary trip this September. They'd been worried about a spate of plane crashes earlier this year, though Latisha said she'd been reassured by the fact that 'if anything happened, we'd be together.' She had asked her husband, 'what would I do without you?' He looked back at her, she said, and replied, 'Nothing. Because I'm not going nowhere.'
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Family of missing Los Alamos National Laboratory employee seeks help from public
TAOS COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – It's been more than a week since a northern New Mexico woman went missing. Though there has been an extensive search effort, not much has shed light on what happened to Melissa Casias. Casias went missing on Thursday, June 26, and was last seen near Talpa, NM, just southeast of Ranchos De Taos. Her disappearance spurred large-scale search and rescue operations and has prompted the involvement of New Mexico State Police (NMSP). 'That's the last that we know about where she was that day,' said Jazmin McMillen, Casias' niece. According to her family, Casias went missing after taking lunch to her daughter at a cafe in Taos Plaza. Nine days later, investigators are still searching. Taos animal shelter closes indefinitely, amid funding and operational challenges 'No positive news right now,' McMillen said. 'We're really just trying to kind of keep it top of mind for people in the area.' Her family says Casias is an Administrative Assistant for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and drove to work that morning. They say she forgot her badge, which she needs for security clearance, and decided to work from home. Her family says Caisas later took lunch to her daughter at the John Dunn Shops in Taos, and left the area just before 1:00 p.m. 'She got back in her car, she left,' McMillen said. 'We have surveillance footage that shows what she was seen last wearing.' Alarms were raised when Casias' daughter returned home after work and found all of her mother's belongings. But Melissa was not there. Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office: Missing child located 'Her purse, her car, her keys, her wallet, and her personal phone, her work phone, and her computer were all at home,' McMillen explained. A tip came in later that day, saying that someone saw her walking alone on foot on Highway 518 in Talpa, and was seen on neighbors' Ring doorbell cameras. The family later confirmed it was her based on the clothes she was wearing that day. The family says that's the last time she was seen. Since then, hundreds of volunteers, family members, and law enforcement have spent hours searching for her. 'We created some large maps of the total search area,' McMillen added. 'We divided that into quadrants and sub-quadrants, so we had 16 grid areas where we sent volunteers.' The family is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to Casias' safe return. The family has started a Facebook page and GoFundMe to help in their efforts to find Melissa. They are asking the public to contact NMSP with any tips or leads at 505-425-6771. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Task force wants a cheaper plan for new men's prison
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Members of Gov. Larry Rhoden's Project Prison Reset task force have ruled out various sites for a new men's prison, including the Lincoln County site where work had already begun. The group instead now wants proposals for 1,500 to 1,700 men's beds, capped at $600 million for everything, including furnishings and possibly land, at or near the current state Department of Corrections sites in Sioux Falls and Springfield, as well as at possible new locations in Mitchell and Worthing. Prison consultant does Q and A on Tuesday The task force made those decisions in a meeting Tuesday that started at 10:30 a.m. and adjourned at 6:59 p.m. The proposals from the Office of State Engineer and the Lincoln County site's contractor, JE Dunn Construction, are to be delivered in time for the task force's next meeting on July 8, when its members are supposed to decide on a final recommendation. Gov. Rhoden has been planning to call a special legislative session on July 22 for state lawmakers to consider the recommendation. Whether that can still happen no longer is clear. Several times on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Greg Jamison asked whether the governor's timeline can be met, and the task force's chair, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, put off answering him. A JE Dunn official guaranteed that new proposals would be delivered for July 8 but he acknowledged they might lack detail. 'It's a tall order, no doubt,' Vance McMillen said. Republican Sen. Steve Kolbeck asked whether the new proposals could include things such as steel cells fabricated by Trussbilt in Huron. 'You're going to solve the problem now, but you're kicking the can,' McMillen answered, saying that legislators would have a repeat of the current overcrowding problems in 40 years. The $600 million ceiling is less than the $825 guaranteed maximum price that JE Dunn Construction and Henry Carlson Construction had given in a joint proposal for the Lincoln County site. Their offer was the only one received. The project was designed to last 100 years, but it was derailed during the 2025 legislative session when the House of Representatives refused to authorize spending for it. Former Gov. Kristi Noem's administration had planned for several years to build a replacement for the outdated and overcrowded State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, and the Legislature established an incarceration replacement account to fund it. A 320-acre plot of farm ground in Lincoln County appraised at $7,910,000 was purchased from the state Office of School and Public Lands. A group of local landowners opposed to the plan quickly formed and tried various ways to block it. In January, Noem resigned as governor to become the new federal Homeland Security secretary and Lt. Gov. Rhoden automatically became governor. Days after that, the House refused to authorize the funding. Rather than try again, Rhoden issued the executive order establishing the task force. JE Dunn's McMillen said on Tuesday that a 100-year approach was now out the door, given the task force's decision to see what can be done on a $600 million budget. He said the proposals would instead be designed for 50 years. Mitchell remains in the running despite its location 70 miles west of Sioux Falls. Mitchell Area Development Corporation and Chamber CEO Mike Lauritsen spoke, as did Davison County Commission member John Claggett and Mitchell Area Housing president Terry Sabers. 'We have a unified leadership group in Mitchell who would like to see the prison come to Mitchell,' Lauritsen told the task force. 'We would like to do a formal presentation at your next meeting.' Current DOC employees will be surveyed to see whether they are willing to drive from the Sioux Falls area to Mitchell or Worthing. House Republican leader Scott Odenbach made the motion to seek the $600 million proposals and indicated that getting acceptance from the Legislature is key. 'Part of this bows to the political,' he said. 'We know that whatever we do, we have to get to two-thirds.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Deputies investigate man beaten, stripped over racial slur at MS club
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Deputies are investigating an incident involving a man who was beaten, stripped, and robbed for allegedly yelling racial slurs inside a Holly Springs club on Sunday. Lt. Colonel Kelly McMillen with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office says the investigation into the reported beating of a White man at a popular African American club in Holly Springs called C.J.'s Lounge is ongoing. 'At this point, that's a critical part of this investigation because we have heard the same thing. However, we want to make sure that is exactly what happened, and if it is, that will be reacted on as well,' said Lt. Colonel McMillen. Former Monroe County district judge sentenced to federal prison for obstruction 'I was hearing him yell out and blare out the N word repeatedly,' said Myles Stone, part-time DJ and security at C.J.'s Lounge. 'Everyone on planet earth has to live with their choices, and he walked in there with a choice to be very hateful, very negative.' Investigators say they believe the incident started inside C.J.'s Lounge and spilled out into this courtyard. This is where investigators say the victim was beaten, robbed, and stripped of his clothing while a number of people recorded and laughed. 'The victim, unfortunately, his jaw's busted open, his eye's busted. He's just in a terrible state of mind right now,' said Lt. Colonel McMillen. 'We're trying to adopt some search warrants, get those done, and see if we can retrieve information from those social media accounts.' Clayborn Temple fire ruled arson; person sought C.J.'s Lounge has been closed by the city because of the incident and the number of previous complaints. WREG has reached out to the owner of the club for a comment but has not received a response. We're told the victim has been released from the hospital in New Albany and is being interviewed by investigators again. If you have information, you can contact the Holly Springs Police at 919-557-9111 or the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at 931-359-6122. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Texas A&M has reportedly contacted USC transfer guard
Texas A&M has reportedly contacted USC transfer guard New Texas A&M basketball head coach Bucky McMillan has already raised the fan base's expectations after landing eight players from the transfer portal, looking to make an immediate impact in the SEC during his first season at the helm. While the level of talent he's acquired over the past month is somewhat surprising, his dedication to building the roster isn't based on what we witnessed during his successful career with Samford. Last week, McMillen added his seventh and eighth players from the portal, as Texas Tech forward Federiko Federiko and Alabama/Kansas guard Rylan Griffen, who are both slated to either start or play hefty minutes during the 2025 season. While McMillen can already field a roster that is talented enough to compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, he is still a couple of pieces away from matching the top teams in the conference. What's been most impressive has been McMillan's willingness to reach out to every portal player imaginable despite A&M's lack of "elite" basketball stature, which includes USC transfer guard Desmond Claude, who has become the target of multiple blue blood programs this week. During his 2024 junior season, Claude averaged 15.8 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, while he shot nearly 50% from the field, and 30% from 3-point range. Claude is an elite scorer, ranked as the 34th player in the transfer portal, and would be a guaranteed starter in McMillan's lineup, opposite former North Alabama guard Jacari Lane. With Florida and North Carolina now out of the picture, Gonzaga, Duke, Ole Miss, Virginia, and Kentucky are reportedly in the mix, which is a tough task for McMillan and his staff, but similar to landing Rylan Griffen, don't count the Aggies out. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
