A suspect in the stabbing of a biotech executive near the Westfield UTC has won a long delay in court proceedings, with his preliminary hearing now set for Dec. 9 instead of Aug. 22.
Odie James Miller Jr. agreed to the delay when he appeared Aug. 20 in San Diego Superior Court on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty.
Miller, 20, is accused of repeatedly stabbing the executive, referred to in court records as Brian M., around 12:15 p.m. on August 6 in a random attack in the vicinity of Renaissance Avenue and Towne Centre Drive. The victim is 44.
Miller’s father, Odie Miller Sr., has told several television news stations he tried to warn police and the court about his son, who ceased taking medication designed to treat his mental issues.
“What I want people to know is that my son has a mental illness,” the suspect’s father said.
Odie Miller Jr. is on probation for attacking his father with a knife in an earlier case, but his probation has been revoked. On Aug. 7, a police SWAT team surrounded the younger Miller’s mother’s Rolando residence in the belief he was inside, but he was not. He was later arrested in the East Village area.
The younger Miller remains in the George F. Bailey Detention Facility on $550,000 bail.