Four charged in Tara Miller's death; victim's sister says two are former roommates

Four people are facing charges in connection with the death of a Calgary woman whose body was found near Okotoks, Alta., last year.

Tara Miller, 37, also known as Tara Mbugua, was found dead near the intersection of Highway 522 and 128 Street on March 30, 2023.

"She was turning it around finally, after years of struggle and hardship," said Jennifer Miller, Tara's older sister.

"She was in school, taking interior design and graphic design courses."

On Jan. 18, the Alberta RCMP major crimes unit, with help from Calgary police, arrested four people.

"I don't know, it's not necessarily closure but it's definitely one piece of good news that I haven't had for a long time," Miller said.

Gurpreet Gill, 30, of Calgary, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and use of a firearm in an indictable offence.

Greg Shuster, 30, of Calgary, is charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and accessory after the fact.

Jared Burke, 24, of Wheatland County, Alta., is charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and use of a firearm in an indictable offence.

Shyana Popplestone, 25, of Calgary, is charged with manslaughter.

All four of the accused remain in custody pending hearings.

"It gets right to my insides knowing that two of them were her roommates. They lived inside her home and she considered them friends," Miller said.

Tara Miller was known to run in criminal circles at times but she also had many friends and family who experienced a very different person.

"Just the kindest person. Whenever you needed her, she was there," said Sonya Snow.

Long-time friend Keshia Plummer recalls a day, years ago, when she lost her job and was stranded in Taber, Alta., in winter. She says she called Miller for help.

"She dropped everything right away. She got in her car and filled up her car and came and got me," Plummer said.

"It was honestly one of the most wonderful things that anyone has ever done for me."

"People thought it would be okay to take that away from her and take that away from her sister and her mother and all of her friends."

All say they will follow the cases closely as they start moving through the courts.