Pharmacy Student Was Allegedly Killed by Friend Who Became Paranoid After Smoking Marijuana: Authorities

The family of a Wisconsin pharmacy student is grieving after authorities allege she was shot and killed by a friend who became paranoid after smoking marijuana.

According to reports from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WMTV and Fox 6 Milwaukee, Ariel Spillner, 26, was fatally shot on Nov. 4. Her friend Jamica Simone Mills, 31, has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, as well as a felony related to the use of a dangerous weapon, per a criminal complaint and Milwaukee County Jail records.

A GoFundMe created by Spillner’s family described the Concordia University pharmacy student’s death as “an unimaginable loss.”

“Ariel was a light to everyone who knew her — she had the most giving soul with the biggest heart,” her family wrote, adding that she loved her family, friends, dogs, and “the simple joys of life.” They remembered her as a dedicated athlete and a compassionate person with tremendous potential.

According to the criminal complaint cited by WMTV and the Journal Sentinel, first responders arrived around 9:40 p.m. to find Mills on the floor with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. Spillner was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say Mills told police that Spillner had come over to groom her dogs. Afterward, the two smoked marijuana, and Mills claimed they both grew paranoid. She allegedly told officers she saw Spillner make a sudden hand movement and believed she was about to be stabbed, leading her to fire a handgun kept in her bedroom, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

Mills allegedly said she did not intend to kill her friend.

Her bond was set at $150,000, and she remains in custody, according to jail records. She is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 17.