Louisville Metro Police released more details on a triple homicide last week that led to the suspect’s arrest in Florida.
The LMPD says the bodies of Mike Miles, 27, his wife Catherine Miles, 24 and his sister Geneva Miles, 39, were discovered at the home of the two younger Miles, shortly after 4 p.m. last Friday in the 6400 block of Venango Dr., in the Pleasure Ridge Park community, while doing a welfare check. The Jefferson County coroner reported all three died of gunshot wounds.
Homicide Lt. Emily McKinley told reporters on Monday that two young children of Mike and Catherine Miles, ages 2 and 4, were found unharmed in their beds, although both were hungry and needed diapers changed.
McKinley said one big challenge was getting the youngsters out of their room without them seeing the gory murder scene.
“A couple of our detectives went straight into ‘Dad’ mode,” she said. “They pretended they were Iron Men, and used blankets as invisible cloaks, to quickly carry the 4-year-old boy out of the house without him seeing anything. With the 2-year-old girl, we played hide-and-go seek, draped another blanket over her and carried her out to other family members who were waiting outside.”
McKinley said their investigation led them to Christopher Olivo as a suspect.
“He and Geneva Miles had a child on common,” she said. “They were not married, but had been together for some time. Geneva, Chris and their 2-year-old daughter had moved to Louisville a few months ago, and had been staying with his brother and their family.”
Investigators determined Olivo fled the scene with his daughter in a green Chevy Cruze that was equipped with On Star. They contacted On Star, who told them the car was in the Springhill, Florida area, near Tampa.
McKinley says LMPD officers had On Star on one speakerphone, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Department on another speakerphone, and were able to direct officers to the car, after about 30 to 45 minutes. By that time, Olivo had crossed into Pinellas County, Florida, where deputies were able to stop the car and take him into custody.
“When he was stopped, Olivo was wearing a ballistic vest and had an AK-47 in the passenger seat next to him,” McKinley said. “Our hats are off to Hernando and Pinellas County deputies, for taking our call and acting swiftly and precisely, in an extremely dangerous situation.
“This is an example of a traffic stop that could have gone horribly wrong. But because of communication among all agencies and On Star, no one was hurt, and we were able to bring this to a safe resolution.”
They also found Olivo’s daughter with other family members in Florida.
McKinley said it appears the murders happened sometime Thursday night. She would not describe a motive, saying the case remains under investigation and, although there are no other suspects, police are still looking for other possible weapons.
Olivo is charged with three counts of murder and tampering with physical evidence and remains jailed in Florida, pending extradition back to Jefferson County to face those charges. There’s no timetable on his return.
By Kentucky Today
