The man charged in the death of an elderly Hillsborough Home Depot employee years ago pled guilty on Thursday, ending a years-long case and trial in the middle of jury deliberations.
Amid jury deliberations for a trial to determine his innocence on the first-degree murder charge, 29-year-old Terry McMillian Jr. reversed course and accepted the plea deal on the charges of voluntary manslaughter and common law robbery. Testimonies in the case were heard in the prior week before the district attorney’s office and McMillian’s defense shared their closing arguments on Tuesday.
82-year-old Gary Rasor died in 2022 from what his family and prosecution said were complications of injuries suffered when Rasor was pushed over by McMillian during a robbery of the Hampton Pointe Home Depot location on Oct. 18. Security footage video — widely circulated by Hillsborough Police as law enforcement sought the suspect — showed Rasor, who worked as a greeter at the home improvement store, confronting a man walking out with pressure-washing tools he did not pay for. The man, later identified as McMillian, pushed Rasor down onto the concrete and broke his pelvis and a rib.
Security footage from the Hampton Pointe Home Depot store on Oct. 18. 2022, as Terry McMillian Jr. pushed over Gary Rasor while leaving the store. A months-long investigation into the suspect took place after the incident and Rasor’s death more than one month later. (Photo via the Hillsborough Police Department.)
Rasor was hospitalized for treatment and moved to a rehabilitation center for further recovery before his condition worsened and he died on Nov. 30. At that point, the North Carolina medical examiner officially ruled the death as a homicide due to “complications from [Rasor’s] injuries received” in the assault. State and federal officials later arrested and charged McMillian in Jan. 2023 after his girlfriend turned the Durham resident in for a cash reward.
During testimony of the trial in Orange County, Associate Chief Medical Examiner Nabil Haikal testified Rasor had several pre-existing conditions that could have threatened his life, which was a key piece of McMillian’s defense’s argument. Haikal said the senior citizen’s hypertension and pulmonary emphysema may have played a part in his death, but that the injuries suffered from McMillian’s assault were severe enough to cause strain on the body and exacerbate the underlying health issues.
If convicted on the first-degree murder charge, McMillian could have served life in prison. Instead, Special Superior Court Judge Clayton Somers sentenced McMillian to 97 to 129 months, or between 8 to 10 years, for Rasor’s death. Since McMillian has been imprisoned since 2023 on the charges, that time will go toward the sentence.
District Attorney Jeff Nieman said his office recommended McMillian plea to voluntary manslaughter from the beginning of the trial because of the law’s support of first-degree murder as the primary option once such cases move to trial. He said the Rasor family were also onboard, maintaining the believe Gary would have forgiven McMillian if he were still alive.
“This was an outcome that the family of the victim fully supported,” said Nieman, “They made it clear to me, and it came out in court today, that they didn’t want to see Mr. McMillian go to prison for life. The possibility [of a plea deal] came up and they were very supportive of it and were at peace with it.”
Featured photo via AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee.
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