Murderer finally convicted for shooting trans woman and her boyfriend, seven years after he killed them
Melvin Miller, 27, was convicted of the gruesome killings seven years after committing them.
A man in Louisiana has been convicted for murdering trans woman Milan Boudreaux and her boyfriend, seven years after he killed them.
Milan and Akeem Boudreaux died on February 5, 2013 from gunshot wounds to the head.
They were discovered in their apartment in a New Orleans suburb, nine days after they died, when concerned friends entered their apartment after not hearing from them in several days.
Melvin Miller, an acquaintance of the couple, was convicted of their “gruesome” killing on February 5, 2020.
Miller, 27, was found guilty of charges including two counts of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors said that Miller ambushed the couple at their home on the night of February 5 2013.
“It’s so disturbing that someone could walk into the home of two unarmed people and execute them. It’s so disturbing that someone could put a gun to the back of their heads and pull a trigger,” assistant district attorney Lindsay Truhe told jurors during closing arguments of the two-day trial, according to local news.
Miller’s defence, who deadnamed Milan during the trial, had tried to convince the jury that there was no evidence he had been inside the apartment, despite having been found with some of the victims’ property.
“There is no proof that Melvin Miller was in that apartment,” said Marquita Naquin. “Riding in a stolen car does not make you a murderer. Possessing a computer or a telephone that doesn’t belong to you doesn’t make you a killer,” she said.
It was Milan Boudreaux’s stolen car – a silver Pontiac GT – that first alerted detectives to Miller’s connection to the case, because he was found in possession of it the day the couple’s bodies were discovered.
Miller’s girlfriend, Jasmine Alexander, told investigators that Miller had a gun with him when he went to New Orleans on the day of the murders, prosecutors said.
She pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, after admitting to throwing away bullets she found in the apartment she shared with Miller after the killings. She was sentenced to five years probation.
During closing arguments, Miller had a smile on his face as prosecutors spoke about how all the evidence pointed to his guilt.
“Two people are dead. It’s not funny,” Truhe said.
She then asked the jury to find Miller guilty, adding: “You cannot bring these people back to life. But you can give them justice.”
Miller is scheduled to be sentenced on February 20. He is expected to receive a life sentence.
