Goochland County

4706 Shannon Station Lane

5:00 AM

Gunshot

Domestic

Woman is charged in boyfriend’s slaying / Police say she shot him at their home Tuesday morning in Goochland
By Calvin R. Trice And Wesley P. Hester
Times-Dispatch Staff Writers

Friday,February 22, 2008

A Goochland County woman has been charged with the shooting death Tuesday of her live-in boyfriend, a Virginia State Police spokesman said.
Laura T. Miller, 48, of Columbia is charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Henrico County Regional Jail West, said state police Sgt. Tom Cunningham.

Miller is accused of shooting Ralph Carpenter Jr., 49, in the head inside the home the two shared in the 4000 block of Shannon Station Lane.

Miller’s daughter, who lives in North Carolina, called the Goochland Sheriff’s Office about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday to report the shooting, Sheriff James L. Agnew said. Miller’s daughter said her mother told her she had shot Carpenter, Agnew said.

Goochland authorities immediately turned the case over to state police investigators.

Troopers and special agents with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrived minutes later and found Carpenter’s body, Cunningham said.

Police did not release a motive for the shooting.

In addition to first-degree murder, Miller also faces a count of using a firearm to commit a felony.

She would face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted on all counts.