Masontown man to stand trial for deadly shooting
MASONTOWN – A 31-year-old Masontown man was ordered to stand trial in Fayette County Court Monday on charges including homicide and aggravated assault for allegedly shooting two men, killing one of them following an altercation outside his home last month. Thomas Edward Miller II of 295 Ronco Road is facing charges of criminal homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person for the May 12 incident.
Police allege that Miller used a 12-guage shotgun to shoot Charles David Springer, 28, of Ronco and Springer’s stepfather, Andrew Scott King, 45, of Brownsville. Springer died of a gunshot wound to the chest and King, who also suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, has since recovered. Police believe that the same shot went through Springer’s body and then entered King’s body.
During a preliminary hearing before District Justice Brenda Cavalcante, King testified that he was at the family owned bar, Adolph’s Tavern in Masontown, in the early morning hours of May 12 when his wife asked him to take Springer home.
Under questioning by District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, King said Springer was upset because he and his girlfriend had been fighting. King said he pulled his Chevrolet Blazer along the side of the road at the intersection with Ronco Road and Shortcut Road to talk with Springer.
“He was crying and saying I didn’t love him and why is everyone hard on me?” King said.
King testified that while he was talking with Springer, a guy whom he identified as Miller came across the road and “started hollering.”
“He said get the (expletive) off this property,” King said. “He said he was going to kill us (expletive).”
Upon hearing the yelling, King testified that Springer jumped out of the vehicle and began yelling and cursing also. King said he got out and yelled for Springer to get in the vehicle so they could leave. King said his stepson started up in the yard after Miller went to his house and Miller tried to order a dog to attack Springer. Then, “(Miller) ran up to the house and yelled ‘old man get the gun’,” King said.
After both King and Springer got back into the Blazer to leave, King said he heard the same guy swearing and cussing at them.
After Springer got out again and went behind the Blazer, King said he also got out and went behind the vehicle to see what was transpiring. King said he heard Springer say that the man had a gun and then saw “flames” and then “felt a lot of pain and fell to the ground.”
King said he tried to crawl to the Blazer to drive away but once inside he couldn’t get his legs to work. He said he then opened the vehicle door and laid on the road and put a finger in the hole in his chest and told two people who had stopped at the scene to call 911 because they had been shot.
King spent five days in Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., and underwent surgery, but still has the slug embedded in his shoulder. Springer was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:13 a.m.
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Mark Morrison, King said he was taking his stepson to Springer’s sister’s house in Ronco when the incident occurred. King said Springer had been drinking ginger brandy and coke before they left at about 2 a.m.
King said Springer was upset because he and his girlfriend had just broken up and he pulled along the side of the road to talk to his stepson. “He was crying. He wanted to talk to me about it,” King said. King said he didn’t know why Springer was upset with him and accused King of not loving him.
During testimony, King described what both Miller and Springer were wearing. He said Miller, who appeared at the hearing with black, wispy hair and wire-rimmed glasses, wasn’t wearing the glasses the night of the shooting. King said he didn’t see who shot the gun, but said it was the same voice that had been yelling minutes earlier. When Morrison asked King why they didn’t leave after Miller went up to his house and yelled “old man get the gun,” he said, “there wasn’t time.”
King said he may have seen Miller at some time in the bar, but he didn’t know him prior to the night of the shooting.
Investigating officer Trooper James Monkelis testified that he picked up Miller in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was lodged after he was apprehended a couple days after the shooting.
Monkelis said Miller gave a statement in Cleveland that Miller shot the gun and then “heard awful screams from the people he had pointed the gun at and shot.” During testimony, Monkelis said that Miller also relayed to him how he left his parents’ house with his 7-year-old son and then went to several homes and through the woods before getting a motorcycle and fleeing to Ohio. Monkelis said Miller also said he dyed his hair and eyebrows black in West Virginia to change his appearance.
Miller was apprehended in Cleveland after he was listed in the national computer database as a wanted person. Miller appeared calm and quiet throughout the hearing. When he arrived at the district justice office, numerous onlookers yelled statements.
Springer’s mother, Tanya Springer Miller, said she has learned a lesson from burying her son. “Don’t stop for nothing. I don’t care whose upset or whose crying. Wait till you get home and talk about it,” she said.
Due to limited seating in the courtroom, only a few of the family members who showed up outside the office were permitted inside. The majority of those on both sides milled about outside the office until the conclusion of the hearing.
The start of the hearing was delayed because of the late arrival of Morrison, who had attended a funeral earlier in the day. During the delay, both sides of Main Street in Masontown were lined with curious onlookers, including family members of the accused and victims. Adolph’s Tavern is located about a half a block away from the district justice office, on the opposite side of the street.
After the hearing ended, constables and police officers escorted Miller out the back door to avoid a confrontation. After the conclusion of the testimony, Cavalcante ordered Miller to stand trial on all the changes against him.
Miller will remain incarcerated in the Fayette County Prison without bond pending his next court appearance.