Prosecutors say a dispute over a $3,200 lottery win escalated before James S. Miller was struck and killed in Portland.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A 55-year-old woman extradited from California is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of her 75-year-old boyfriend, whom prosecutors say she intentionally struck with her car after a dispute tied to his $3,200 lottery win.

Mary Ann McKinzy was returned to Multnomah County on Sept. 18, more than nine months after James S. Miller was found dead at an apartment complex in Portland’s Centennial neighborhood. Portland police said McKinzy was booked on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and negligent homicide. U.S. Marshals had arrested her Aug. 5 in Bakersfield, California, after homicide detectives identified her as a suspect. The criminal charges are allegations, and the public reports reviewed for this story do not establish that McKinzy has been convicted in Miller’s death.

The case now centers on a confrontation that investigators say grew out of an argument over lottery money but quickly involved threats, a knife, blocked vehicles and a car moving in reverse. Reporting on a probable cause affidavit says Miller had won $3,200 and gave McKinzy $1,700. Prosecutors allege she later took another $800 from him without permission. Court records cited in news reports say Miller then sought help from others to find McKinzy and recover the money. The available records do not identify the lottery game Miller played or where he bought the ticket.

On Nov. 28, 2025, a friend drove Miller to the apartment complex where McKinzy was in a parked car, according to accounts of the affidavit. The friend later told police that he did not know what Miller intended to do when he agreed to drive him there. Once they arrived, Miller approached the driver’s side of McKinzy’s car. The friend told investigators he heard Miller demand that she open the door and threaten to break a window if she did not, a detail that has become important because McKinzy later said she believed Miller was trying to kill her.

The confrontation then shifted from a dispute at the car window to an effort to keep McKinzy from leaving, according to the reported court record. Miller allegedly told his friend to position the other vehicle so McKinzy’s car was blocked. McKinzy then backed her car into the friend’s vehicle, the friend told police. After getting out to inspect the damage, the friend said he saw Miller throw a knife at McKinzy’s car. Surveillance video described in court records also allegedly showed Miller using a knife on the vehicle’s tires. Those details provide context for McKinzy’s stated fear but do not, by themselves, resolve whether the force prosecutors accuse her of using was legally justified.

Prosecutors allege McKinzy then put her car in reverse and struck Miller, backing over him. When the friend called for her to move the vehicle, McKinzy allegedly said Miller was “trying to kill me,” according to the affidavit as reported by Law&Crime and other outlets. She then drove away, investigators allege. The state’s accusation that she intentionally struck Miller is central to the murder case. Public reporting reviewed for this article does not include a defense filing laying out a full legal argument from McKinzy or her attorney, so her statement at the scene should not be treated as a complete account of her defense.

Officers responding that morning initially received a report of a stabbing, an early description that did not turn out to match the medical examiner’s conclusion. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. Portland police later said the Multnomah County Medical Examiner determined that he died from blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide. That finding shifted the investigative focus away from the initial report of a stabbing and toward the events involving the vehicle, while the knife remained relevant to what allegedly happened immediately before Miller was struck.

Investigators also traced physical evidence connected to McKinzy’s car, according to accounts of the probable cause affidavit. The vehicle was located at a tire shop later on the day Miller died. Reports say a hubcap found at the scene matched the vehicle and that another matching hubcap was found inside the car. A puncture in the hood was also described as consistent with the knife Miller allegedly threw or used during the confrontation. The car reportedly contained documents or belongings connected to McKinzy. Those details helped investigators tie the vehicle to the parking-lot encounter, but they do not substitute for the state’s burden to prove the charged crimes in court.

Police did not arrest McKinzy in Oregon in the immediate aftermath of Miller’s death. Detectives obtained a warrant, but she had left the state or departed soon afterward, according to published accounts of the investigation. Portland police later said the U.S. Marshals Service located and arrested her in Bakersfield on Aug. 5, 2026. She was held in the Kern County Jail while authorities arranged her return to Oregon. The transfer was completed Sept. 18, when Portland police announced she had been lodged in the Multnomah County Detention Center on the three charges.

The official police release is narrower than the account contained in the reported court documents. Portland police confirmed Miller’s death, McKinzy’s identification as a suspect, the California arrest, the extradition and the booking charges. The detailed account of the lottery money, the parking-lot threats, the knife and the alleged vehicle movements comes from reporting on the probable cause affidavit. That distinction matters because many of the most specific facts in the case are allegations prosecutors will have to support through admissible evidence if the case moves toward trial.

The reported sequence also presents competing facts that could become significant in later court proceedings. Prosecutors allege that McKinzy intentionally drove over Miller, while the same reported affidavit contains evidence that Miller threatened to break her window, helped block her car and used a knife against the vehicle before he was struck. No public source reviewed for this article establishes a judicial finding on whether McKinzy reasonably feared imminent harm, whether she had a safe way to leave, or how those facts will be argued under Oregon law. Those questions remain for the court process rather than for investigators or news reports to settle.

Miller’s death was recorded as a homicide, a medical classification describing death caused by another person and not, by itself, a determination of criminal guilt. McKinzy’s second-degree murder charge is the most serious accusation listed by Portland police, accompanied by first-degree assault and negligent homicide. The available police release does not describe the prosecution’s full theory for how the three charges relate to one another, and the publicly accessible reporting reviewed here does not provide a later charging document or trial schedule.

Law&Crime reported that McKinzy had a court appearance scheduled for Sept. 29. As of Nov. 8, no later reliable public report located for this story established the outcome of that appearance or announced a trial date. Portland police continue to ask anyone with information about Miller’s death who has not spoken with investigators to reference case No. 25-325754. The case therefore remains defined publicly by the arrest, extradition and allegations in the reported affidavit, with the disputed circumstances of the parking-lot confrontation still unresolved in court.

Author note: Last updated November 8, 2026.