Auburn, Wash. — Time is not healing the wounds of Tricia Patricelli’s family. On Wednesday night, the first anniversary of the Auburn woman’s death, her loved-ones gathered at Henry Dykstra Park to remember her.
The body of the 33-year old Patricelli was found October 30, 2012, on the floor of her apartment, within walking distance of Dykstra Park, on the banks of the Green River. She had been beaten and stabbed 22-times. Her boyfriend of four years, 31-year-old Scottye Leon Miller was arrested at a bus stop blocks from Patricelli’s home. Court records indicate Miller initially confessed to stabbing Patricelli to death, but then recanted. He has since been charged with her murder.
On Wednesday, Patricelli’s 13-year-old daughter Khalani told KIRO 7 Reporter Amy Clancy that her mother “talks to us all the time, but we just can’t hear her.” Khalani hopes Miller is convicted and spends the rest of his life behind bars: “I don’t ever want him to get out because I’m always afraid that he’s going to get me too.”
Khalani and her 10-year-old sister Niyerrah are now being raised by their grandmother, Cathy Harper. Harper and other family members always believed Miller would make good on his many threats to kill Patricelli. “He had hit her, he had hurt her. He had put her in the hospital. But this time, he went through with it,” Harper Said.
Patricelli’s brother, Tony, added “I don’t believe he (Miller) deserves to breathe. He took my sister’s life.”
Miller has not been convicted of his girlfriend’s murder. His trial begins next month at the Kent Regional Justice Center. But Miller has been arrested dozens of times by police from multiple jurisdictions throughout King County.
His history of violence, especially violence against women, is well-documented. According to court records, Miller’s rap sheet includes domestic violence assault, violating orders of protection, interfering with domestic violence reporting, harassment, trespassing, firearms violations, burglary and more.
On October 30, 2012, Miller had been out of jail just two weeks after serving time for assaulting and threatening to kill Patricelli when her body was found on the bathroom floor of her Auburn apartment. She had a restraining order against Miller when she died. Her mother told Clancy that Miller also sent letters from jail threatening to kill Patricelli and her children.
On the anniversary of his sister’s death, Tony Patricelli encouraged all women to protect themselves from danger at the hands of a loved-one: “First sign, leave. Just get out before it’s too late because everyone’s going to hurt.”
“If somebody hits you once, if they threaten you, you should get out as soon as you can,” Patricelli’s mother told Clancy. “Domestic violence is very harmful to everybody, and it hurts entire families. Not just one person.”
Jury selection for Miller’s trial begins mid-November. Testimony is expected to start in early December. Cathy Harper expects she and Patricelli’s young daughters will all have to testify.