Authorities charged a man Friday with murder in the April 25 shooting death of Adalberto Aguilar in the Pinedale Shores area of Ashville.St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles said Friday afternoon that Stephen Jonathan Miller, 26, has been charged with murder in the death of Aguilar, 43.
Aguilar was shot multiple times after an altercation allegedly occurred between the two men. Surles said it appears Miller confronted Aguilar after the vehicle Aguilar was driving swerved off the road and hit a mailbox near Pinedale Missionary Baptist Church.
Coroner Dennis Russell said the cause of Aguilar’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Surles said investigators spent several days talking with witnesses about the events surrounding the shooting before making any formal charges against Miller.
“It took a week to make these charges,” Surles said, “but we wanted to get the facts straight and in order before making a charge of murder against Mr. Miller.
“It’s been a good investigation by our officers, and we want to stress to the community that they still have a safe community.”
Surles said investigators still do not have a reason why Miller allegedly shot and killed Aguilar.
“He (Miller) has his story that he’s telling us,” Surles said. “And it’s our job to filter through it and get to the bottom of what really happened out there.”
Surles did say that he believes the shooting was a random act because the victim and Miller did not know each another. He also said no drugs were involved in the incident.
“We have no reason to believe this was anything but a random act that started with an altercation and ended tragically,” Surles said.
Miller turned himself into the Sheriff’s Office Friday morning, and as of Friday afternoon he remained in the Ashville Jail with a $100,000 bond.
