Austintown man faces assault, arson charges

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

A man is accused of threatening his wife with a shotgun then trying to set her on fire to “put her out of her misery” Tuesday is in the Mahoning County jail.

Kirk A. Miller, 51, of Amberly Drive, faces felony counts of aggravated arson, felonious assault and abduction.

The woman told township police she and Miller began arguing after she said she was leaving him. Miller then threatened to kill her, took her cellphone and retrieved a shotgun hidden between a mattress, according to a township police report.

“[She] advised that she was crying and begging Miller not to kill her” when Miller struck her with the barrel of the loaded shotgun, which could have fired, the report states.

Miller lit a piece of paper on fire then “threw it on her, stating he was going to put her out of her misery,” the report states. A nearby blanket caught fire, which the woman was able to douse with soda, as the home has no running water, according to the report.

Miller surrendered, unarmed, to police who surrounded the residence after 9 p.m. Tuesday. Officers then found the shotgun inside a vehicle in the home’s garage and also retrieved another handgun Miller had loaned to an acquaintance.

Miller remains in jail on an $85,000 bond.

He did not enter a plea during his Wednesday arraignment in the county area court in Austintown. He’s due back in court next week.