Friedens man to stand trial for manslaughter in half-brother's death

SOMERSET — On June 14, half-brothers Travis Shearer, 32, and Eric Miller, 39, were having a few late-night drinks together at Tailgatez Sports Grill along North Center Avenue.

“We got along well. We had fun, we talked,” Shearer told police of his brother’s final hours.

On the way home (Shearer and Miller were neighbors), the fight broke out. Miller wanted to go to another bar, but Shearer wouldn’t. Shearer told officers that Miller became angry and punched him at least once in the face as he drove. A police officer testified Monday that there were bruises near one of Shearer’s eyes and scratches on his neck.

When they pulled up to Shearer’s house along Cider Mill Road, the argument and yelling continued. Miller’s house was a short distance away, also along Cider Mill Road. The brothers ended up rolling around on the lawn in front of the house, with Shearer telling officers Miller was strangling him.

Shearer said he had purchased the crossbow about 18 months earlier because he was afraid of his brother when he became irrational and violent. Shearer placed the crossbow on a dresser in one of the bedrooms. In the heat of the argument, Shearer said he ran inside and grabbed the crossbow, cocked it with an arrow and rushed downstairs to confront Miller from the front door of the house. Miller was standing on the sidewalk at the bottom of the porch.

More: Friedens man accused of killing half-brother with crossbow bolt

Shearer claimed his brother ran up the stairs toward him. In response, Shearer said he fired the arrow that entered his brother’s chest. There was a pool of blood at the top of the stairs and blood on every step all the way to the sidewalk where Miller was found, according to testimony from Officer Steve Ledwich. He was the first officer on the scene.

After shooting Miller, Shearer told police he reached for a cellphone to call 911, but realized he had retrieved his brother’s cellphone. He was locked out. He ran to his car, grabbed his cellphone and called 911, according to Shearer’s testimony at the preliminary hearing.

He told 911 dispatchers that his brother was attacking him and that he shot him with a crossbow, according to a probable cause statement.

Ledwich testified Monday afternoon that he responded to a 911 call and arrived at Cider Mill Road at 8 p.m. where he saw Miller face down on the concrete at the bottom of the stairs leading to Shearer’s home.

Shearer had his arms around Miller and appeared to be holding him while sobbing, he said.

There was a pool of blood nearby. When Ledwich turned Miller over, it was obvious he had been struck in the chest by a crossbow bolt and he was dead, Ledwich said on the witness stand.

A crossbow bolt is stockier than an arrow and can be fired with more force.

How: Second unrelated death in days following crossbow shooting in western Pennsylvania

After being questioned by law enforcement, Shearer was charged with homicide, first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

At Monday’s hearing, defense attorney Matthew Zatko and associate attorney Grant Shonesky of Somerset told District Judge Scott Walker that there was an element of self-defense in the case and that charges of first- and third-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter should be dropped.

Walker, of Somerset, disagreed, saying the district attorney had made his case and there was sufficient reason to proceed with the trial with all charges included.

At the hearing, the prosecution called three witnesses, two police officers (one of whom was an investigator) and the deputy coroner who was at the scene and later wrote Miller’s death certificate after an autopsy was performed at ForensicDX in Windber.

In an email sent by Somerset County Prosecutor Molly Metzgar after the hearing, she cited self-defense.

“No District Attorney in the Commonwealth believes more than I do in the sanctity of self-defense and the Castle Doctrine. I firmly believe that a homeowner has the right to protect himself,” she wrote. “However, this case allegedly involves two brothers who were drinking in the county and then got into an argument, leading to the assailant retreating into the home to retrieve, load and cock a crossbow, and then shooting his brother in the chest, killing him. This is not a Castle defense, this is a very tragic homicide.”