Tulsa Man Killed Protecting Neighbor's Home Was 'Good Man, Good Neighbor'

Lori Fullbright, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A Good Samaritan who was trying to help his neighbor was shot and killed Monday with his own gun.

11/1/2010 Related Story: Tulsa Man Shot, Killed Protecting Neighbor's Home

Mark Miller's friends say they're not surprised he was trying to help someone, because that was his personality.

Police are still trying to put together the details of this case, but they do have a theory and once you hear it, it makes you realize, how truly how senseless Mark's death is.

The day started when a man crashed his truck into a brick wall at the Kendalwood Townhomes near 51st and Yale before sunup.

"The newspaper man went to see if he could help because the guy was bleeding but he was belligerent and pulled a gun," Linda Larson, a neighbor, said.

Neighbors say Miller, 53, came outside to check the damage and began taking pictures. But, the man who had crashed took off.

Police say a few hours later, the man came back and broke into one of the townhouses. They suspect he was after those pictures, but broke into the place next door.

Neighbors say Mark heard the alarm going off, called the owner who was at work and asked if he could go in and look around and she said yes. They say he realized her front door was open, so he called police, then got his gun and went next door to check. Then neighbors said they heard two shots.

"We kept saying where's Mark? He wouldn't just run away, where's Mark?" said Kay DeWitt, a neighbor.

They soon learned the burglar had taken the gun away from Mark and shot and killed him in the parking lot behind the townhouses.

"It's a shock, it's a shock," said Tom Novak.

Tom owns Brookside by Day and says Mark came in often to drink coffee. Plus, they were neighbors.

He said Mark was a quiet guy who was always willing to help anyone who needed it.

"Mark was a good man, a good neighbor," he said.

Officers arrested the suspect, Joe Nevels, not far away. They said they had to taser him when he resisted arrest and that it seemed he had some self-inflicted wounds on him.

He'll be booked into jail after he's released from the hospital, likely on Tuesday.