H.B. Man Charged in Newport Double Homicide

A Huntington Beach personal trainer was charged on Monday, April 29, with two counts of murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders in the deaths of Darren Partch and Wendi Miller, who were found inside of a Newport Beach condo on April 21, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Jamon Rayon Buggs, 44, of Huntington Beach, will also be charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, one count of attempted first degree burglary, and a sentencing enhancement of personal discharge of firearm causing death, OCDA officials said in a statement. Buggs faces a minimum sentence of life without the possibility of parole and a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

Darren Donald Partch, 38, of Newport Beach, and Wendi Sue Miller, 48 of Costa Mesa, were found deceased inside a residence in the 2100 block of East 15th Street in Newport Beach on the evening of April 21.

“There is no evidence that Miller had any interaction with Buggs prior to the homicide,” prosecutors said. “Miller and Partch were acquaintances.”

Buggs has a prior strike for an assault on a police officer in San Diego County in 1995.

On Thursday, April 25, the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD) arrested Buggs for the murder of Partch, a former professional hockey player, and Miller, a nonprofit CEO. At the time of his arrest, Buggs was in custody at the Orange County Jail in connection with unrelated charges stemming from an arrest by the Irvine Police Department.

Anyone with information regarding the recent activities and whereabouts of Buggs should contact Newport Beach Detective Rick Henry at 949-644-3797. Buggs is currently being held on $1 million bail at the Orange County Jail.

Prior to the arrest, friends and family of Miller had posted on Facebook that she was missing and was last seen at Skyloft and the Sandpiper Lounge in Laguna on Friday night, April 19. Friends wrote that she drove a man home after dropping a friend off at her car.

After the Orange County Coroner ID’d Miller and Partch as the Newport homicide victims, a family member of Miller wrote online that she had been shot and they were told that “she did not suffer.”

Miller was the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Wings for Justice, which aims to protect children in the family court system by creating awareness, providing education, and advocating to bring positive change. A GoFundMe page was created for her celebration of life, raising over $17,000 as of May 2. To view the memorial fund, visit www.gofundme.com/wendi-millercelebration-of-lifememorial-fund.