The little girl is still in shock over what she's had to witness at such a tender age. “She’s traumatized. She’s devastated that she watched her father get killed.”
Travell Miller was on his way to drop his daughter at school on September 1, 2021, around 7:30 am, but there was quite a bit of traffic on that Wednesday morning. Since he had some time on his hands, he decided to call his mom. Little did he know that was the last time he was going to talk to her.
According to PEOPLE, a gunman pulled up next to his vehicle, and got out, before firing shots at the 33-year-old Miller.
"The offender then exited his vehicle and shot into victim's car, striking him multiple times," the Chicago police, released in a statement. "The offender then fled" in what appears to be a silver Pontiac Grand Prix. The cops say that the shooter's car has only two doors, tinted windows, a sunroof, and no front or rear plate. There may also be damage to the driver's side rear quarter panel.
He has not been identified or apprehended. But, the gunman has been described as a Black male, between 18 and 20 years old, who stands between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10 inches tall. He has a slender build, dark hair with twists, and was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and brown work boots at the time of the killing.
There seems to be no connection between the killer and Miller, and cops believe this is a completely random shooting.
The single father of two worked as a bartender to provide and care for them, even in his final moments of life, per NBC Chicago. In just seconds, four bullets struck Miller, who instinctively leaned over to protect his 7-year-old daughter.
“He was simply driving his daughter to school. He was talking to his mother [on the phone] as this guy runs up on the car,” Miller’s father Joseph Gilmore said, per Chicago Sun-Times. "His mother hears her son say, 'Dang man, what the f- - -.' She hears commotion and then hears him say, 'Mama, Mama, I've been shot.'" The grieving mother said she could hear her son tell his daughter to get down on the car's floor before he took all four bullets.
Paramedics soon arrived to rush the 33-year-old father to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A doctor told Gilmore that the wounds show that he protected his daughter while being shot. “He was a great man, a great father, a warm loving son,” said Gilmore. “I want people to know who my son is.”
The little girl is still in shock over what she's had to witness at such a tender age. “She’s traumatized. She’s devastated that she watched her father get killed.”
Miller's twin brother, Lavell Miller, said he feels hollow following Travell's killing. "He wasn't part of any gang life, criminal life," the grieving brother said. "He wasn't a troubled man, didn't have any enemies. He was a brother, a father, a son. He was a partner."
"It sucks that bad things happen to good people. This is truly one of those situations." A GoFundMe has been set up to raise money for Miller's funeral.
References:
https://people.com/crime/chicago-man-killed-driving-daughter-school-shielding-her-gunfire/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/travell-millers-funeral-expenses
Cover Image Source: YouTube | FOX 32 Chicago (Chicago dad shot, killed while driving daughter to school)
