Parolee To Be Tried for Murder 6 Days After Leaving Prison

An ex-convict was ordered Monday to stand trial for murder in a killing he is accused of committing less than a week after he was paroled from prison.

Brian Keith Milligan, 26, of San Diego is accused of killing taxi driver David Curtiss Brown, 36, on July 6. Brown was shot while in his cab in a Logan Heights alley about 1:30 p.m. In court, a witness identified Milligan as Brown’s killer. The witness, whose name was not given because of a death threat against him, said he recognized a woman passenger in the cab and tried to approach her to get some cocaine, but she went into a house before he could reach her.

According to the witness, that was when Milligan came along, opened the passenger door and told the driver, “Give me your money.”

“He (the driver) reached for his walkie-talkie, and that’s when he (Milligan) shot him,” the witness said.

On cross-examination, the witness said he had met Milligan before, the first time in 1982 or 1983. “I haven’t seen him for three, four years,” the witness said.

Milligan was in state prison for several years for assault with a deadly weapon. He was paroled six days before Brown was slain.

The witness said he has had misdemeanor criminal convictions for possession of drugs and being under the influence drugs, and had served time in an honor camp.

San Diego Municipal Judge Terry Knoepp also ordered Milligan to stand trial on charges of possessing cocaine and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.

Milligan’s attorneys have argued in court documents that the taxi driver was only in the alley to buy cocaine.

A trial date will be set Aug. 26. Milligan remains in County Jail in lieu of $5 million bail.