When Miles and Melina Armstead purchased their ideal home in Oakland, California, they envisioned a warm neighborhood where children played together, and borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor was commonplace.
“It was like everything we hoped for,” Melina reflected in Netflix’s documentary series “Worst Neighbor Ever.” She continued, “But everything changed.”
Shortly after settling into their new home with their four children in October 2017, their dreams turned into a nightmare. Their neighbor, Jamal “JT” Thomas, began an unprovoked campaign of harassment and violence, culminating in the tragic shooting of Miles.
Miles Armstead and Melina Armstead’s Home Becomes a Hellscape
The couple initially felt welcomed by the community and shared a cordial relationship with their neighbors, Patricia and Walter Thomas, and their adult son JT, who lived in a converted garage on the property.
“I would see his mom come and go,” Melina recalled, “and she was always very sweet.”
Everything changed in Aug. 2019, when the Thomases were evicted following their homeowner’s death. While his parents moved out, JT began squatting on the property. When the new owners noticed, they kicked him out and boarded up the home.
“We assumed he was going to leave,” Melina recalled, “but he didn’t.”
The first sign of trouble began on Thanksgiving Day. As the Armsteads sat down to eat, JT banged on their front door and accused their dog of being a nuisance.
“He was very angry and very upset,” said Melina. “We had never seen him that way.”
It was the first of many incidents during which JT allegedly harassed and threatened the Armstead family, according to a lawsuit Melina filed after Miles’ death, alleging that county and city officials failed to curb JT’s behavior.
“It was traumatizing for the kids,” Melina remembered. “It scared the crap out of them.”
She wanted to call the police, but Miles felt compassion for JT. That approach didn’t work.
In Dec. 2019, a newly pregnant Melina was watching TV when was startled by the sound of shattering glass. Large rocks crashed on her couch through the window and flying shards of glass cut her hand.
She called 911, but police lacked enough evidence to arrest JT, and he continued hounding the family.
According to the lawsuit, JT shattered the family’s windows with rocks and bricks and at one point, threatened to burn down their home. One brick he threw nearly hit Miles in the head and damaged his laptop, according to the warrant. The family eventually boarded up their windows to protect themselves, per the lawsuit.
“For some reason,” neighbor Matt Guido said, “JT thought with his whole heart that Miles was harassing him.”
By then, the Armsteads were barely sleeping. Miles stayed up every night, flanked by a baseball bat, while neighbors participated in stakeouts.
The couple obtained a restraining order, but according to Melina, JT continued harassing her family.
One day, Miles came home to find JT outside. He grabbed a baseball bat and confronted JT while neighbors called the police.
“The officers made light of the situation,” noted civil rights attorney Adante Pointer, “and essentially trivialized the trail of terror that this family had been going through.”
JT was arrested for making criminal threats, according to charging documents shown in the docuseries, but while handcuffed, he issued a cold warning.
“Guess what, guys, I‘ll be right back,” he said in body camera footage included in the docuseries. “I’m going to kill him next time.”
Why Did JT Thomas Kill Miles Armstead?
With JT in custody, the family felt relieved, but peace didn’t last. Two days later, he was released and returned to the neighborhood.
The family finally hit a breaking point in 2020. They moved out, but it wouldn’t be their last brush with JT.
On May 1, 2020, Miles left their new apartment to drop paint off at the old house. Neighbor Jose Sanchez was helping with yard work when he heard Miles say, “Look who’s here.”
JT was standing in the middle of the street. According to the warrant, he shot Miles to death.
According to CBS News, the District Attorney said Miles was running away from JT when he was shot, adding that JT had been verbally harassing the family for months.
When fellow neighbor Matt heard the gunshots, he ran outside.
“I saw Miles lying there,” he said. “He wasn’t shaking, he wasn’t breathing, he wasn’t convulsing, wasn’t gasping. He was just still. I knew he was dead.”
When Melina couldn’t reach Miles, she frantically drove to their old home, where she encountered a crime scene.
“There’s a coroner’s van, there’s yellow tarp and there’s caution tape from my house to the stop sign,” she said. “I’m looking at…what’s my husband’s body.”
Seeing the familiar faces of officers she had called so many times in the past only deepened her pain.
“How many of you saw him tormenting us forever, it felt like,” said Melina, “and no one did anything.”
Hours after the shooting, police tracked JT’s location to a hotel by pinging his phone—technology that, according to Pointer, “was available to the police the entire time. But one that they never apparently used in order to stop his reign of terror.”
JT was arrested. He was charged with first-degree murder, along other crimes, according to court records obtained by Oxygen.
Two months later, in July 2020, Melina welcomed daughter Ava.
JT was found guilty of murder in July 2024. Almost a year later, he was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison.
Melina was later awarded a settlement of $2.4 million. The Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Probation Department declined to be interviewed by Netflix.