SANTA ANA – A 55-year-old woman was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years to life in prison for fatally shooting her roommate in Garden Grove.
Michelle Ilene Buzick was convicted July 31 of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a gun. Buzick has 758 days credit for time behind bars awaiting trial.
Buzick was convicted of killing Chris Miller on Sept. 12, 2023, in their apartment at 10781 Lotus Drive.
Buzick wrote in a letter she was “so sorry for what took place on Sept. 12, 2023.”
She added, “That day was the worst day of my life. My friend Chris Miller died that day because he was trying to stop me from killing myself and he was the one who died instead.”
Buzick was a “good friend of 20 years,” she said.
“I never meant for him to get hurt,” she wrote. “Chris Miller is my hero for saving my life and giving me a second chance at life. There are no words that I can say except, `I’m so sorry.’ I know that I can’t bring him back and for that I’m deeply remorseful. This tragedy has truly changed my life. I am making every new day cout and matter in memory of my friend, Chris.”
Buzick said she was “deeply sorry to his family and his friends. … He was a hero in his last moments and will always be my hero.”
Buzick was “under the influence of methamphetamine” and suicidal at the time, her attorney, Catherine Learned of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office wrote in court papers.
“Since her arrest, she has achieved sobriety and completed the Phoenix House In-Custody program from April 16, 2024, through April 7, 2025,” her attorney said.
But in his opening statement of the trial, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nick Thomo said, “This is a case of two people living together in a contentious relationship that erupted into murder.”
According to the prosecutor, another roommate, Michael McCullough, came home about 8 p.m. and found Miller’s body with a single gunshot wound to his head.
After Buzick shot Miller, she went to the home of her boyfriend, Joe Reynolds, in Cypress, Thomo said. His friend, Michael McDowell, was with them and they heard her say, “Chris is no longer with us. That thing I said I was going to do, he is no longer with us,” according to Thomo.
About 8:30 p.m., San Diego police received a 911 call from Reynolds. He said Buzick admitted killing Miller, had a gun and was threatening to commit suicide. The two had been driving south and stopped at a casino for a short time before he left her and made his way to a Days Inn in San Diego to call police.
While on the ride south toward San Diego, Buzick was hysterical and it frightened Reynolds so much he got out, Thomo said. She kept saying she wanted to “escape to Mexico,” Thomo said.
Police put out a call to law enforcement to be on the lookout for the defendant, and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies found the vehicle she was driving about midnight in Lake Elsinore, Thomo said. She was arrested, and the murder weapon was found in the car.
Buzick did not get along well with Miller, Thomo said. Her sister, Theresa Romero, contended that Miller had been mentally abusing the defendant for two years.
Some evidence in the case involved threatening text messages Buzick sent her sister about money she felt was owed to her, Thomo said. The defendant said because of that debt, “Chris Miller is first on my list” for revenge, Thomo said.
Romero spoke with Buzick after the shooting, and the defendant said she couldn’t recall what had happened except for a muzzle flash. Romero said her sister “snapped,” according to Thomo.
Learned said in her opening statement of the trial, “This is a case about a mental health emergency that led to tragedy.”
Buzick got the gun “to end her own pain, not someone else’s life,” Learned said.
Buzick intended to kill herself, but she was spooked when Miller arrived home unexpectedly and wound up accidentally shooting him, Learned said.
Buzick was haunted by her father molesting her as a child, which led to an addiction to drugs, Learned said. She had periods of sobriety and has two adult daughters, but she was pained to see one of the daughters follow her into a life on the streets struggling with drugs, Learned said. In addition, the defendant’s older sister was dying of lung cancer.
“Seeing her daughter repeat the cycle, it was all building up for her,” Learned said.
Buzick had previously lived with Mike McCullough, her friend, in another home, but there was a fire and “pretty much all the things” the defendant had burned, Learned said. That led her to relocate to the apartment with Miller, she said.
Buzick and Miller had been friends for 20 years, she said.
Miller was essentially homeless and would couch surf, Learned said.
The dispute the defendant had over money involved insurance claims from her losses in the fire, Learned said. Buzick was further stressed because she was no longer welcome back at the house when the fire repairs were to be completed, her attorney said.
Buzick left the shooting in “complete shock” and dashed over to her boyfriend’s home, Learned said.
“She’s hysterical and crying,” Learned said.
The defense attorney denied that her client said she had planned to hurt Miller.
“That’s a complete fiction,” she said.
Buzick and Reynolds stopped at the casino to use the restroom and get some cigarettes, Learned said. She told Reynolds she wanted to kill herself, the attorney said.
“In this case there is no motive,” she said. “They had been friends for 20 years… She had no reason for wanting to kill him.”
Buzick had a contentious relationship with Reynolds as well, Thomo said. She had “attempted to run over Joe Reynolds in a domestic violence incident,” Thomo said.
