Mills guilty in theft that led to Strickland's shooting death

One of the men with Peyton Strickland the night of Nov. 17 when a college student was beaten and robbed of Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony common law robbery.

An emotional Ryan D. Mills entered the plea in New Hanover County Superior Court, flanked by his parents, his boss and lawyer Alex Hall. Mills, 21, had also been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering a motor vehicle in connection with the robbery, which triggered a chain of events that resulted in Strickland's shooting death two weeks later when sheriff's deputies served a search warrant at the 18-year-old's home.

Before sentencing, Judge Gary E. Trawick assured a shaken Mills that he wouldn't be going to prison if he didn't violate the terms of his probation. He gave Mills a suspended sentence of 10 to 12 months, with 36 months of supervised probation.

Mills also is subject to a number of probation conditions set by Trawick. One is a 24-hour jail sentence in Durham County, where Mills lives. Another is $1,282 in restitution payments to victim Justin Raines, possibly split with co-defendant Braden Riley, whose case is pending. A third is 100 hours of community service.

Mills also agreed to cooperate with authorities. The State Bureau of Investigation continues a separate inquiry into Strickland's shooting by former New Hanover County Sheriff's Office Deputy Christopher Long. No charges have been filed.

Seen on store video

Prosecutor Dru Lewis recounted the facts of the PlayStation robbery in court. He said Raines had waited for hours outside the Wal-Mart on Sigmon Road to purchase two of the sought-after game systems as soon as they went on sale. The University of North Carolina Wilmington student drove back to campus and was unloading the boxes in a parking lot when a car pulled up and two men got out.

One struck him on the head several times with a blunt object while the other stole one of the PlayStations. The person who attacked Raines grabbed the other PlayStation and when the driver of the car beeped the horn, they got in and left.

Mills was shown on Wal-Mart video surveillance cameras entering the store before the robbery and apparently made an unsuccessful attempt to buy a PlayStation. He was wearing a distinctive sweatshirt later found in Strickland's home after the fatal shooting. Raines could not identify Mills in a photo lineup as the person who struck him, but later told police the man wearing the sweatshirt was responsible.

Hall suggested that Strickland was responsible for the attack on Raines, while Mills went to the other side of the car and stole one of the game systems. Charges against Strickland were dropped after his Dec. 1 death.

Seeking leniency

Raines did not want to be in the courtroom at Mills' sentencing, Lewis said. Although his life was profoundly affected by the robbery and its aftermath, Raines and his family did not insist Mills serve active time, instead leaving sentencing decisions up to Trawick.

"I don't know if forgiven is the right word, but they are very reasonable of what their anticipation is of happening in this courtroom," Lewis said.

Mills listened to his father, his employer and Hall ask Trawick for leniency. A UNCW student with a 3.0 grade point average last year, Mills was suspended from college after his arrest. He now works for a Durham construction business.

"The law recognizes people 20 years old don't have the judgment older people have," Hall said. "Obviously, he made a very bad decision on that night that I think you will find out of character for him." Mills lost one of his best friends, Strickland, in addition to having to leave school and having a felony conviction on his record, Hall said.

Mills' father William, a Durham lawyer, said his son is not the person portrayed in the media after the Strickland shooting. Online images of Mills and two other young men holding weapons were widely circulated.

Mills was arrested for the robbery as he pulled up to Strickland's house on the night of the shooting. A loaded shotgun was found in the trunk of his car.

Authorities believe Riley, 22, was driving the car used in the robbery, later found parked at his parents' Apex home.

Injuries not serious

The Mills and Riley cases have been handled separately from the inquiry into the Strickland shooting, which was turned over to the SBI by District Attorney Ben David in February.

In a statement released Wednesday after Mills was sentenced, David noted that Raines was not seriously injured in the assault. He said there was "scant evidence" that attacker meant to endanger Raines' life.

"My office did not seek an indictment against Mr. Mills for armed robbery. He has pled guilty to the highest charge that he could have likely been convicted of in a trial and has taken full responsibility for the robbery," David said in the statement.

An anonymous tip to UNCW police led them to consider Strickland, Mills and Riley as suspects after the November robbery. College police requested assistance from the sheriff's office Emergency Response Team in serving search and arrest warrants at Strickland's Long Leaf Acres Drive home. Strickland, a Durham native, was a Cape Fear Community College student.

Long was covering another deputy and later told investigators he mistook the crashing noise of an ERT battering ram for gunfire from inside the home. Long fired through the front door, hitting Strickland twice and inflicting a fatal head wound.

Long was fired by Sheriff Sid Causey several days after the shooting.

David presented second-degree murder charges against Long to a grand jury in December. A clerical error by a grand jury foreman resulted in an announcement that Long had been indicted, when in fact the grand jury had found no grounds for a second-degree murder charge. The mistake was corrected the next day.

Ken Little: 343-2389

ken.little@starnewsonline.com