75-year-old stabbed to death in home, CA cops say. Months later, her grandson charged
Months after a 75-year-old woman was found dead inside her home, her grandson is one of two men charged in her death, California officials say.
Susan Miller’s 28-year-old grandson, Bikramjot Singh Padda, and Josh Edward Atkins, 44, were each charged with one count of murder and felony count first-degree residential burglary in relation to her June death, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 20 news release.
“Our hearts are with Ms. Susan Miller’s loved ones as they continue to navigate this senseless violence and loss,” District Attorney George Gascón said in the release. “The loss is made even more painful by the fact that one of the defendants involved is the victim’s grandson.”
Grandmother found dead
When Miller’s grandchildren went to check on her at her South Pasadena home the evening of June 4, they found her dead, KTLA reported the next day.
After getting a call about a bleeding woman, South Pasadena Police Department officers and fire officials arrived “within minutes,” the department said in a June news release.
Paramedics pronounced Miller, who had “stab wounds to her upper torso,” dead, police said.
At the time, police said Miller’s home had no signs of forced entry.
“The investigation is ongoing and dynamic,” Chief Brian Solinsky said in the release. “Detectives from South Pasadena and the Sheriff’s Department have been working tirelessly to uncover what happened.”
‘Eyes that could talk to you’
Miller graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1967, a listing from the South Pasadena High School Alumni Association shows.
Heartfelt comments from former classmates poured in for Miller, including one from a classmate who met her in homeroom.
“Susan had perfect posture, a beautiful smile and those eyes that could talk to you,” the classmate wrote. “She was very smart, witty, kind and also loved to talk.”
Another classmate commended Miller’s kindhearted nature.
“I could write a book about her generosity and kindness she gave to me,” another wrote
Months-long investigation to arrests
After a “five-month long investigation,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it presented Miller’s case to the district attorney’s office on Nov. 14.
Subsequently, the district attorney’s office charged Padda and Atkins in Miller’s killing, and they were arrested, deputies said.
The pair are accused of burglarizing Miller’s home and stabbing and killing her, prosecutors said.
In addition to the murder and burglary charge, Atkins was also charged with the allegation that he used a knife during the crime, prosecutors said.
The pair are both being held on more than $2 million bail, prosecutors said.
Atkins and Padda are scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Dec. 19, prosecutors said.
If the men are convicted as charged, they could each face a lifetime in prison, according to prosecutors.
South Pasadena is about a 10-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
