Matthew Baxter was a 27-year-old officer with the Kissimmee Police Department who was killed on August 18, 2017. He and his partner, Sergeant Richard Sam Howard, were responding to reports of suspicious persons near Palmway and Cypress Streets in Kissimmee, Florida, when a confrontation led to both officers being shot. Baxter died the night of the shooting; Sergeant Howard died the following day.

The suspect, Everett Miller, was arrested roughly two hours after the shootings and was found in possession of two handguns. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and later convicted. A jury recommended the death penalty, which the judge upheld. The case drew attention after then-State Attorney Aramis Ayala declined to pursue capital punishment, prompting reassignment to another prosecutor. Miller’s defense filed motions seeking life imprisonment and challenging Florida’s death-penalty constitutionality; those motions were denied. Officer Baxter’s widow, Sadia Baxter, a fellow law enforcement officer, attended hearings and advocated for justice.

Did anyone in the Kissimmee area have information about the events near Palmway and Cypress Streets on August 18, 2017?