DONORA, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after a man died while in police custody.
John Miller, 56, died on March 22nd, five days after he was arrested by Donora Police.
Family and friends held a vigil for Miller Friday evening outside Donora Towers. That’s where the man they call “Kookoo” lived and was arrested.
“I loved him and he didn’t deserve this,” one friend said.
“He’s a person that needs to be remembered. This is a tragic, tragic thing that happened. It shouldn’t happen to anybody, especially not to him,” Danielle Payne said. She’s a family friend and organized the vigil.
Neighbors say law enforcement had been called to the tower on an unrelated matter.
Donora Police confirmed to Channel 11 that Miller never made it to the police station. He was taken from the scene of his arrest by paramedics and later died at UPMC Presby.
What’s not clear is what led to his death.
“What happened? Why? Why so reckless? It’s a human life,” Payne said.
We reached out to Donora Police for answers.
The Police Chief told us:
“The department is fully cooperating with an outside agency and incident is currently still active and being investigated by Pennsylvania State Police, therefore limited information is currently available for release.”
For now, Miller’s family and friends will have to wait and hope that their questions are answered.
“Sometimes your story takes a turn, a tragedy, for a purpose,” a friend said.
We have reached out to the state police about the investigation but have not heard back.
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