News
Indictment Filed in Mine Tavern Shooting
By: Susan Tebben
Posted on:
The man who is accused of killing the owner of a local bar has been indicted in relation to the incident.
Taylor Allen Mills, 22, of Nelsonville, was indicted by an Athens County grand jury on charges of aggravated murder, murder, involuntary manslaughter, carrying a concealed weapon, illegal possession of a firearm in liquor permit premises and tampering with evidence, according to a press release by the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mills was arrested in December after allegedly shooting Mine Tavern owner Tim Koker at the bar on the Public Square in Nelsonville.
Mills was at The Mine late on Dec. 22, and reportedly caused a disturbance before being asked to leave. He came back to the bar and was again asked to leave after throwing an object at the window, Athens County Assistant Prosecutor Rob Driscoll said in an initial hearing on the case in Athens County Municipal Court.
After Koker asked Mills to leave again, shots were fired, Driscoll said.
Nelsonville police responded, along with the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, at about 11:30 p.m. and found a male subject, later identified as Koker, who appeared to be suffering from a gunshot wound.
Police attempted CPR and emergency personnel responded, but Koker was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Mills is accused of fleeing the scene and barricading himself in a residence on Harper Street. The Athens County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Response Team was deployed and were able to subdue Mills without injury.
An arraignment is scheduled in Athens County Common Pleas Court for Feb. 3.