Channel 9 has learned more about how a woman died in a horrible way over the weekend in east Charlotte.
Miguel Gonzalez-Rasalas, 36, was arrested by police on Sunday after the body of 35-year-old Laura Miller was found in an apartment building on Southwood Oaks Lane. Rasalas was charged with first-degree murder, getting rid of a body and hiding a death, and stealing a car.
The victim and the suspect knew each other, according to the police.
On Tuesday, in court, the prosecutors talked in detail about how she was found, but some of the details are too graphic to share. The room where Miller’s body was found had a table with all four legs broken off, according to the prosecutors. Prosecutors said Miller’s body was surrounded by three crosses made out of table legs. Her body had been cut up and burned many times, they said. Salt was also used to cover her body.
Hunter Sáenz of Channel 9 heard from Miller’s and Rasalas’ neighbors that the two of them had a rough past. They said that the two lived in the same building, but in different apartments, and that they often heard them arguing and fighting.
Neighbors said they saw blood dripping from outside Rasalas’ apartment to the doorstep below. They knew something bad had happened and called the police. They said that the night Miller was killed, they heard screams coming from Rasalas’ apartment.
A day after Miller was found in Rasalas’ apartment, there was still blood on the front step.
One of Miller’s neighbors lived right next door. He said that Rasalas was beating on Miller’s door with a bat last Thursday.
The neighbor said, “He told Laura to open the door or he was going to kill her.”
Police told Hunter Sáenz of Channel 9 that the thing that killed Miller wasn’t a gun, but they didn’t say what it was.
The police did say that the case is not a case of domestic violence.
Wednesday, Channel 9 got arrest warrants that say Rasalas stole Miller’s car after the crime.
She Was a Very Nice Little Girl
Tuesday night, Channel 9 talked on the phone with Miller’s mother. The woman said that Miller was the kindest, sweetest, and most caring daughter she had ever had.
Miller’s family is trying to get over the fact that she was killed so violently while they remember what a nice person she was. People said that her smile would make a room bright.
“She was the sweetest little girl ever,” said her uncle.
On Tuesday, he called Sáenz to talk about his niece.
“Cared a lot about animals and loved them a lot,” he said.
He talked to Sáenz on the same day that Channel 9 learned in court about the troubling details.
Mitchell Mackinem, a criminology and sociology professor at Wingate University, said that claims of that kind of crime don’t come up very often.
The tweet below verifies the news:
Prosecutors said a table with all of its legs broken off was in the room where Miller’s body was found. Three crosses made out the table legs surrounded Miller’s body, which had been mutilated. Salt was also sprinkled around her body. https://t.co/Bo4H6CArLh
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) April 11, 2023
“These murders that seem to be done by demons are very rare,” he said.
He talked about one of the charges against Rasalas, which is that he destroyed remains and tried to hide death. According to court records, only 10 people in North Carolina have been charged with this crime in the last 10 years.
Charisse Coston, a professor of criminology at UNC Charlotte, couldn’t believe what she heard about the case.
“I was very upset. “It doesn’t happen often, but it does,” Coston said.
Coston said that there isn’t usually a link between religious and demonic images.
Charisse said, “Sometimes they get it through music.” “You know, sometimes they learn it from movies. But most of the time, this kind of murder has nothing to do with real Satanism or the occult.”
“That’s awful. “It was awful, awful, awful,” Miller’s uncle said.
When he looked at Rasalas’s mugshot, he saw what looked like scratches on his face. He said he couldn’t imagine what his niece must be feeling.
Miller’s uncle said, “She must have been fighting for her life, and then she must have been scratching his eyes and all.”
Before Miller’s family can get justice, they need to know what happened.
“We want to know why this happened and why he had to do it. What was the point? “What kind of rage is that?” He wanted to know.
Miller’s family is making plans for her funeral right now. Her uncle said that they still don’t have her body.
Rasalas is still in jail without a bond. The next time he has to go to court is April 19 for a bond hearing.
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