Jamica Mills, Milwaukee, Wisconsin woman charged in the fatal shooting of Ariel Spillner, Concordia University pharmacy student after suspect saying she got paranoid while getting high.
A pharmacy student from Wisconsin was shot and killed by her ‘friend’ after the pal becoming paranoid while smoking marijuana, according to a criminal complaint.
Ariel Spillner, 26, a Deforest, Wisconsin native was in her final year of pharmacy school at Concordia University when she was shot and killed by 32-year-old woman, Jamica Mills.
The shooting occurred at a residence near 39th and Lancaster on November 4th. The area is known to be a hot spot for local crime and drug dealing.
Jamica Mills alleges becoming paranoid while smoking marijuana with victim
Mills, has since been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.
Mills claims ‘accidentally’ shooting the pharmacy student after believing ‘the friend’ would stab her while they smoked marijuana together, the criminal complaint stated.
The complaint added that Mills also told investigators she shot herself in the stomach and insisted that she did not mean to kill Spillner, FOX6 reported.
Mills told police that Spillner was supposed to cut her dog’s hair with scissors, but she became paranoid that her friend would use the scissors to attack her, so she retrieved a gun from her bedroom, per the complaint.
When she returned, Mills said that Spillner made a ‘hand motion’ that panicked her and led her to shoot her at around 9:40pm, police said.
Mills was found inside her home conscious but on the floor with a gunshot wound, and Spillner was pronounced dead at the scene.
Suspect feared pharmacy student ‘friend’ stabbing her
A Ruger LCP .380 caliber handgun and two spent .380 caliber casings were also found in the home.
Mills allegedly became combative as she was transferred to the hospital.
Police said that she was initially uncooperative when first interviewed and told investigators that she could not remember what happened between waking up in her living room and arriving at hospital.
But she allegedly changed her story, admitting she and Spillner both became paranoid after smoking weed together, which is illegal for recreational purposes in Milwaukee.
Although she told detectives that she became anxious about Spillner because she was holding scissors to cut her dog’s hair, Mills said Spillner never made any threats to stab her.
Mills said that after firing at Spillner, she then walked towards her front door and accidentally shot herself in the stomach.
Victim’s sister spoke to pharmacy student less than 2 hours before she was shot dead
Authorities conducted a search warrant on the home and arrested another person living with Mills.
That person was accused of lying to the police about the incident, but they have not been formally charged.
‘She was literally the best person you could ask for as a friend, as a sister, as a ‘TT’ [aunt], as a daughter,’ her sister Courtney Spillner told WWNY. ‘She was the best to everyone. She would be there for anyone, no matter what you needed, when you needed it.’
The sisters spoke for the last time Tuesday night, about an hour and a half before the shooting.
‘The last thing we said to each other was that we loved each other, so I am forever holding that memory close,’ Courtney Spillner told the outlet.
Tributes poured in for Spillner after the shooting and her family described her as an ambitious and kind-hearted student ‘with the most infectious laugh’.
A GoFundMe has been set up to pay for funeral expenses. The family said any extra money will go toward a charity close to Ariel Spillner.
Spillner’s family say they oppose handing Mills a potential plea deal, and hope that the pharmacy student ‘gets the justice that she deserves’.
Mills remains in custody with a $150,000 bond. She is next due in court on November 17 for a preliminary hearing.
