COVINGTON, Ky. — After around an hour of deliberation, a jury determined 47-year-old Marsha Miller, accused of intentionally hitting and killing a man with her car in a parking lot in Covington in 2021, is "guilty but mentally ill," according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
Investigators said when Miller was arrested in March 2021, they'd found evidence indicating she'd intentionally hit 54-year-old Frank Harris with her car in a Burlington Coat Factory parking lot.
According to a press release from the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, witnesses who saw the crash and surveillance video captured by the nearby Burlington Coat Factory were key to determining Miller's actions that day. That footage captured Harris walking across the parking lot as Miller drove north on Winston Avenue; Miller then could be seen turning left into the parking lot, before making another lefthand turn, driving toward where Harris was walking.
"Miller's vehicle was then seen and heard accelerating directly toward Harris," reads the press release. "Just after Harris walks out of the camera's view, the vehicle can then be heard crashing into Harris with a horrific thud."
Witnesses testified during Miller's trial that the impact had sent Harris more than 10 feet into the air.
Miller claimed she didn't see Harris, but later apologized for the crash, the press release says.
Investigators could not find any connection between Miller and Harris, who left behind two teenage sons.
A "guilty but mentally ill" verdict means Miller will serve her sentence in a state correctional hospital until deemed safe to serve the remainder of her sentence in a women's prison.
"It is scary to know there are people in the world like Marsha Miller, who just want to kill someone, even someone they have never met, but it happens," said Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders in a press release.
Sanders said Miller's case was unique and complicated, in part because Miller is deaf. Her mental health, and several competency evaluations held to determine whether she could stand trial, also slowed and complicated the case, according to the press release.
After the verdict, the jury also recommended a 30-year prison sentence for Miller; she will officially be sentenced on June 4.
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