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Mourners remember ambitious student
Hillsborough officers continue to search for the robbers who killed Danielle Miller, a fashion design student.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published December 8, 2004
TAMPA - Danielle Miller was never supposed to be working that night.
But one of her college instructors says the ambitious fashion design student was so far ahead in her school work that she decided to pull a shift Saturday night at the Subway sandwich shop where she had been working to help pay for her education.
That decision proved fatal for the 22-year-old, when two men barged in demanding money and started shooting.
On Tuesday, with authorities hoping that an $11,000 reward would give them a break in the case, those who knew Miller offered a more vivid sense of the young woman, daughter, student and friend they lost so suddenly. Miller's mother, Sue, read a prepared statement to the media Tuesday, speaking of her grief at the loss of a passionate daughter who would bring her fashion work home to show her family in Ohio during breaks.
"This was a child who couldn't cook, sew, iron or cut a pattern," she said, describing how far Miller had come. Miller's mother declined to give her last name, citing a desire for privacy.
Her mother said she dreamed of opening her own business, and her instructor, Marisu Olivero, said she had heard the same aspirations from the talented woman.
Miller worked at Subway to help put herself through the International Academy of Design & Technology, down the road from her apartment off Memorial Highway. Miller had been set to graduate in May and receive a bachelor's degree in fine arts after completing an internship.
Miller saw the world differently than others, Olivero said, and that vision was honed over the years into a senior's portfolio filled with dresses and suits of sharp angles and bright colors.
Her lingerie designs and children's wear in particular jumped off the page, Olivero said.
"A lot of people didn't do the stuff that she did," she said.
She'd link fabrics, like cotton with feathers, that instructors initially didn't think worked together. But after she was done with them, they did.
Instead of relying on computers, Miller painstakingly cut and pasted papers she had colored and designed to weave through her portfolio so that it would have its own style and texture.
She was so focused, sometimes she would forget to talk to anyone in class, Olivero said. Miller never missed class, even showing up at times in her Subway uniform. For inspiration, she relied on her mother and twin sister, whom she called daily in Ohio, Olivero said.
Miller was supposed to present her portfolio to a panel of judges next week as one of the last steps toward graduation, and Olivero was supposed to meet with her Monday morning to go over it. She had everything ready. So ready, in fact, that she decided to work at Subway Saturday.
Instead, Monday brought the horrible news of Miller's death and the wounding of her co-worker. The boyfriend of Dorothy Hayes, 37, said she is recovering and is expected home this weekend.
Subway International has offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the men who robbed their Town 'N Country store Saturday.
CrimeStoppers has offered the additional $1,000 reward for information that leads to arrests.
Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives continued Tuesday to search for the two men caught by surveillance cameras robbing the store at 8019-A W Hillsborough Ave., west of the Veterans Expressway.
On Monday, a man came forward who appeared in surveillance videos just seconds before the robbers ran through the front door. Deputies say he is a potential witness. His identity and what he told investigators are being kept confidential.
Deputies are looking for a thin, black man, between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches tall, wearing a dark-brown hooded sweat jacket and baggy blue denim shorts. They are also looking for a light-skinned black or Hispanic man, 6 feet tall, 150 to 160 pounds, wearing a maroon hooded sweat jacket, baggy black pants, black sneakers, a white cap and possibly a paintball mask.
Anyone with information can call CrimeStoppers at (800) 873-8477 or Hillsborough County sheriff's Detective J.R. Sepulveda at (813) 247-8693.
Meanwhile, students at the design school continued to mourn for their classmate.
Red poinsettia and a bouquet of carnations and sunflowers graced the school's lobby along with Miller's photo and signs that read, "You will be missed but never forgotten."
Students had written their own messages on the paper, remembering a young woman unfailingly positive and cheerful.
Olivero said she plans to present Miller's portfolio in her stead to the judges next week.
Miller's designs had also been chosen for the school's prestigious fashion show scheduled for May, an event that drew 4,500 people and 400 designs last time. Miller had been ecstatic that she made the first cut.
Olivero said she will see to it that Miller's designs are part of that show, to make sure her achievement is recognized. "We're going to finish it for her."
[Last modified December 7, 2004, 23:47:14]
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