Suspected burglar killed by homeowner was not pregnant, coroner says

A burglary suspect who police say was shot dead while attempting to flee a Long Beach home this week was not pregnant, coroner’s officials said Friday.

The home’s owner, who identified himself as Tom Greer in an interview with KNBC-TV Channel 4, said he shot Andrea Miller, 28, even after she begged him not to open fire, claiming she was pregnant. She was shot twice in the back. Her suspected accomplice, 26-year-old Gus Adams, got away but was later arrested.

Greer, who claims the couple attacked him in his home, has said he acted in self-defense, although Long Beach police have said they are still investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

In California a person can be charged with their accomplice’s death if it occurs during the commission of a crime. Adams is being held on more than $1-million bail.

Police say Adams and Miller attacked Greer, 80, after he walked in on them burglarizing his home Tuesday night in the 3900 block of Country Club Drive in the upscale Bixby Knolls neighborhood.

But when Greer produced a .22-caliber handgun, they fled. Greer told KNBC he chased the pair and shot Miller twice in the back in the alley, then pulled her body back onto his lot.

In his taped interview with the station, he said the woman shouted, “Don’t shoot me! I’m pregnant -- I’m going to have a baby.”

“I shot her anyway,” Greer said. “The lady didn’t run as fast as the man so I shot her in the back twice --she’s dead … but he got away.”

Greer told KNBC that he acted in self-defense and that the pair had burglarized his home twice before.

Police confirmed that the intruders beat Greer with their fists, body slammed him to the ground and tried to break into his safe.

But in a news conference Thursday, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said the investigation is not over, and detectives will present their report to county prosecutors to determine if Greer was justified in slaying the woman.

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