In the quiet hours before dawn on Sunday, 25-year-old Austin Lee Matthew Miller of Lexington, North Carolina, was found lifeless by police — killed in a shooting tied to a domestic incident while traveling into Hickory, NC.
According to the responding officers, the call came in at 2:42 a.m. on December 7, reporting a shooting near Main Avenue SW and US Hwy 321. When they arrived, Miller was discovered suffering from gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say the shooting stemmed from an ongoing domestic situation involving Miller and 32-year-old James Michael Church of Granite Falls, who were travelling south on Highway 321 from Caldwell County into Hickory. Church was present when officers arrived and was identified as the person who fired the fatal shot.
As of now, no formal charges have been filed. The case remains under active investigation by Hickory Police Department, which is calling on anyone with information to contact Investigator Ben Rogers at 828-261-2614 or via email.
The sudden loss has devastated Miller’s family and the community. In a tearful tribute, his mother spoke about the bond they shared — about a missed call at 12:24 a.m., and a dead phone battery around 3:00 a.m. as he headed home. She recalled that any other Saturday night, she would’ve been up, and would’ve answered. It’s a message heavy with grief, regret, and unimaginable sorrow.
Friends and neighbors described Miller as a loyal, caring young man — someone who loved his family and would always be there for them. In their eyes, his death leaves a void not easily filled.
For now, the streets of Hickory near Main Avenue remain quiet, but the shadow of that early-morning shooting looms large. Family, investigators, and a community shaken by a life ended too soon wait — for answers, for closure, and for some sense of justice in the silent hours before daylight.
