A jury Friday convicted a Fort Carson soldier of first-degree murder with extreme indifference in a random drive-by killing last September outside the Wal-Mart on East Platte Avenue.

Frank Lee Miller, who also was found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 26-year-old Christopher Harmon, was sentenced to life in prison without parole immediately after the verdict was announced in 4th Judicial District Court.

“I feel relief,” Autumn Artist, who was planning to marry Harmon, said after Miller was sentenced by District Judge Barney Iuppa. “But it doesn’t bring Chris back. There’s still that hole that can’t be filled.”

Artist’s brother, Nicholas Artist, was with Harmon when the men were picked out at random by a shooter in a passing car as they walked in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart at 3201 E. Platte Ave. on Sept. 26, 2010. Artist was not injured in the shooting.

Miller, 20, who was driving the car from which the shots were fired, didn’t pull the trigger. However, he orchestrated the killing, a fellow soldier who was a passenger in the car testified, by handing a gun to then 17-year-old Jordan Ellis and ordering him to shoot at the two men as he drove past.

Miller and Ellis were arrested Oct. 5, 2010. Ellis, 18, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 31.

Jurors needed less than two days to reach a verdict after the seven-day trial — Miller’s second on the murder charges — ended Wednesday afternoon. Miller’s first trial in May ended in a mistrial after prosecutors showed a video containing inadmissible evidence.

Lead prosecutor Heidi Bauer said the store’s surveillance camera sealed Miller’s fate, capturing on videotape his Dodge Charger as it slowly approached Harmon and Artist before shots were fired from the back seat, and then sped away.

Jurors agreed, saying the video shown during the trial and witnesses’s testimony convinced them that Miller was guilty.

“He didn’t value life. It didn’t matter whose life it was,” juror Tyler LaForge, 23, said, explaining the finding of extreme indifference.

Artist’s relatives who were with her when the verdict was read said Harmon had developed a deep bond with Artist’s extended family. He was devoted to her and their now 9-month-old daughter, Shia, they said.

“Chris brought so much happiness to my family,” Nicholas Artist’s cousin, Promise Rocha, said. “He was always the sweetest, funniest guy.”

Miller made no statement before he was sentenced.

His silence left Artist’s family with no answers why Harmon was killed.

Miller served in Afghanistan from May 29, 2009, to June 8, 2010, with the 1st Battalion of the 12th Regiment, part of the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team. Thirty-nine soldiers died during his tour with the brigade in Afghanistan. Eleven soldiers and former members of the 3,500 soldier brigade have been charged with murder or attempted murder since 2005.

Gazette writers Lance Benzel and Matt Steiner contributed to this report.

Frank Lee Miller Photo by