By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

 

NEDERLAND — Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter said officers located what they believe to be the gun used in the murder of Joshua Caleb Miller, 34.

Porter said the handgun was found in field of grass near the scene Thursday. The department sent the weapon to the crime lab for forensic and ballistic testing. While one suspect turned himself in, two remain at large.

Nederland police Thursday charged Jonathan Loya, 20, with the murder after he turned himself in.

Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter said Loya’s bond is set at $250,000.

Loya, who was one of three suspects involved in the Wednesday murder at Briarcliff Apartments on Twin City Highway, turned himself in Thursday morning, Police Chief Gary Porter said. Police believe Loya was in possession of the gun that was involved in the murder of Miller.

Witnesses told police one of the other suspects pulled the gun away from Loya in the parking lot before going up to Miller’s apartment himself, following an altercation.

A witness said she heard a single gunshot before seeing that second male run back down the stairs from the second-floor apartment, located in the rear of the complex. Loya fled in a truck, while the other two male suspects fled on foot.

Police continued searching for the other two males Thursday. Identities were not revealed.

Miller was found by police in his apartment with a single gunshot wound to the back.

Porter said an officer responded to a call about an altercation at around 6:25 p.m. Thursday. When police arrived, they found what they described as a deceased white male.

A witness who lived in the apartment building said the victim moved into the complex “a few weeks ago,” and described him as friendly and someone she could wave to. The witness said the victim had many visitors at the apartment.

Porter said the complex where the shooting occurred is a “good complex” that police rarely have to visit. Residents said the management is dutiful about keeping the complex safe.

Porter called the city’s first homicide of the year “another tragic event.”

The police chief said the city’s last homicide was the Michael Legg murder on Beauxart Gardens Road in May 2018.

If anyone has any information regarding the homicide, Porter said they should contact police at 409-722-4965.