Somerset County man charged with homicide in death of brother by crossbow

A Somerset Township man is behind bars after, state troopers say, he fatally shot his brother with a crossbow.

Police charged Travis Scott Shearer, 32, with criminal homicide in connection with the death of his brother, Eric Miller, on Friday night.

Shearer is being held in the Somerset County Jail.

State troopers based in Somerset wrote in an affidavit that, just before 8 p.m. Friday, they received a call from Shearer, who was “hysterical and crying.” Shearer told troopers Miller was attacking him outside his house and was refusing to leave, so he shot him with a crossbow.

But, based on Ring doorbell footage from the scene, troopers charged Shearer because it appeared Miller was not actively pursuing Shearer during the confrontation, the complaint said. Shearer was able to walk away from Miller into his home for safety, troopers wrote in the complaint.

Shearer told troopers he and Miller had just got back from a bar, and Miller wanted to go to a different bar but Shearer didn’t want to, starting an argument, the complaint said.

They argued outside Shearer’s house in the 500 block of Cider Mill Road, and Miller “went nuts,” Shearer told troopers. Shearer said his Ring doorbell camera should have captured everything. While on the phone with troopers, Shearer said “I’m sorry” multiple times, the complaint said.

When troopers arrived, Shearer was lying on top of Miller, sobbing, the complaint said. Miller was dead, lying on his back with blood around him at the base of the porch.

When questioned by troopers, Shearer said Miller had asked him for a ride to Walmart earlier in the day, the complaint said. When they left Walmart, they had “several drinks” at a bar and on the way home and Miller wanted to stop at another bar.

Shearer told troopers he didn’t want to stop but agreed to drop Miller off at the bar, the complaint said. When almost at the bar, Miller became irate and Shearer decided to drive home.

Miller hit Shearer in the face twice while he was driving, Shearer told troopers. When Shearer pulled in his driveway, Miller began to choke him, and they were rolling around on the ground, the complaint said. Miller began to chase Shearer and Shearer ran into his house.

While inside the house, Shearer got a crossbow from his bedroom and went back outside to tell Miller to leave because he had the crossbow, the complaint said. Miller was standing in the driveway at the time and then charged at Shearer, Shearer told police.

Shearer told troopers when Miller got to the top steps of the front porch, he shot him with the crossbow in the chest and then called 911.

Ring video footage showed Shearer and Miller shouting at each other and Shearer walking toward the house, away from Miller, the complaint said. Video then shows Shearer standing on the porch and Miller standing on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps with his hands on his hips, the complaint said.

The next video picked up about five minutes later, after Miller had been shot, the complaint said. Shearer was walking to retrieve his phone from his car.

A preliminary hearing for Shearer is scheduled for June 25.