Man, 78, pleads guilty to murdering woman, 26, whom he misidentified as someone who was going to testify against him in child sex crime case, police say

A North Carolina man pled guilty to murdering a woman in cold blood. Police say the 78-year-old man shot and killed the 26-year-old woman because he mistook her for another person who was going to testify that he molested her as a child.

Around 7:30 a.m. on October 3, 2022, Harold Reid Jr. went to the Rowan Pointe Apartments in Mocksville. Investigators believe Reid had a mission of murdering a woman who was set to testify against him regarding accusations that he committed child sex crimes when she was a girl.

Reid reportedly shot and killed 26-year-old Quintia Miller — who had dropped off her son at the school bus stop and was walking back to her apartment, according to a GoFundMe campaign. Miller was pronounced dead at the crime scene.

However, Miller was reportedly not Reid's actual target. Police believe Reid wanted to murder Shavonne Barnes — a woman who was set to testify the next day against the elderly man for allegedly molesting her as a child.

The Davie County Sheriff's Office said in a statement, "It is believed that he went to the Rowan Pointe Apartments looking for a person involved in the case against him to stop them from participating in the case. He apparently mistook Miller for the person he was looking for and confronted her, before shooting her."

Barnes told WGHP, "I saw Quintia lying face down. Reid was laying on top of her. The attack should have never been her. The bullet was meant for me."

Barnes said Reid committed sex crimes against her when she was between the ages of 10 and 12.

"I knew from the point of his release, his goal was to kill me, and he made that very clear," Barnes said.

"I also watched him lay on the ground, and his words to me were…'I was coming for you,'" she added. "Not only did he violate me, but he's also taken an innocent life because he's a coward."

Reid was immediately arrested after the shooting because officers with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and Davie County Sheriff's Office just happened to be in the apartment complex that morning for an unrelated criminal investigation. Officers heard the gunshots, rushed to the victim, fired one shot at the suspect, and then took Reid into custody.

On Monday, Reid pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the Superior Court of Davie County. He also pled no contest to four sex crimes that he was facing: first-degree sex offense, statutory sex offense, and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Reid will serve a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Miller's family has been devastated by the tragic mistaken-identity murder.

"It has taken a toll on everybody. All the way down to my grandkids," Miller's mother, Sabrina Perry, told WXII-TV.

Miller leaves behind a 6-year-old son named Kamari.