In 2019, a pregnant Keianna Miller encountered a Macomb, Illinois, police officer. When she said she was expecting a boy, he told her, "I can't wait to arrest your son." The exchange gave her nightmares for years. On March 16, 2024, police were called to Miller’s apartment. What happened next took 16 seconds.
Police hustled Miller, who had been stabbed by an ex-boyfriend, out of the apartment. The assailant then grabbed 4-year-old Terell Miller. Nic Goc, Macomb's "Officer of the Year," shot them both.
Miller refuses to see her son’s death as a tragic accident. When police answered a domestic disturbance call knowing that their alleged duty was to de-escalate a violent situation, Terrell wasn’t supposed to be collateral damage.
Police didn't even try to negotiate or de-escalate to protect her son, argued Miller. Their definition of safety, as police departments have shown us countless times before, doesn't protect victims of violence. Or their children.
Family and friends fondly remember Terrell's "Kool-Aid smile." He was a "miracle baby" who grew into a "happy-go-lucky" boy with an “old soul.” He loved Spider-Man so much that students in Macomb schools wore Spider-Man colors in his memory for a day. At the funeral, Miller asked mourners to throw up their webs one last time for her son. "My baby," she posted online. "#LongLiveTerrell. #SpideysMission."