Orange County

Ex-Con Faces Special Circumstance Murder Charges in Slayings of Man and Woman in Newport Beach

A personal trainer from Huntington Beach is expected to be charged Monday with murder in the killings of a man and woman in a Newport Beach apartment, prosecutors said Friday.

Jamon Rayon Buggs, 44, faces two counts of murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders in the killings of 48-year-old Wendi Sue Miller of Costa Mesa and 38-year-old Darren Donald Partch of Newport Beach. Buggs also faces firearm and first degree burglary charges in the case, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

The two victims were found in Partch's residence at Villa Siena on Sunday, the Orange County coroner's office reported.

The ex-con who already was facing charges related to a rash of attempted break-ins in Irvine, was arrested Thursday, police said.

There was no evidence that Miller had any interaction with Buggs before the killing, prosecutors said. Miller and Partch were acquaintances, according to the district attorney's office.

Miller's son, Luke Carpenter, posted on Facebook that his mother had been shot to death and added that the family was told "she did not suffer."

Carpenter thanked his friends for all the prayers and added, "please don't stop because I feel our family needs them even more now."

Miller was the chief executive of the nonprofit organization Wings for Justice, which aims to "protect children in the family court system by creating awareness, providing education, and advocating to bring positive change," according to the organization's website.

Miller's "career includes over 25 years as a national speaker and 12 years with a psychological practice specializing in abuse and domestic violence counseling, and support groups for women and children," according to Wings for Justice.

Miller was a licensed psychologist in California and Michigan where she counseled children, individuals, couples and families.

"During the last several years of Wendi's practice, she specialized in treating victims of domestic violence and abuse," according to the nonprofit's site.

She wrote two books, "Betrayed Vows," and the "Care Point Training Manual for Facilitators of Support Groups," according to the organization.

Miller and her children "experienced severe injustice in the family court system and her children are left unprotected along with thousands of others across the country," according to the website's biography of Miller.

Miller received a master's degree in counseling from Hope International University in Fullerton, where she also taught undergraduate classes, according to Wings for Justice.

She received a bachelor's degree in communications from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.

Partch was a minor league hockey player who played for the San Diego Gulls in 2005-06.

Buggs pleaded guilty to felony vandalism and possession of a firearm by a felon, both felonies, as well as taking property from another and brandishing a firearm, both misdemeanors, in September of 1996, according to court records. He was sentenced to 32 months in state prison, according to court records.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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