Survivor recounts fatal shooting
Andrew King testified Monday that he and his stepson stopped by the side of the road to have a heart-to-heart conversation in the early morning hours of May 12, 2002, when a man screaming obscenities at them interrupted them. After a verbal argument with King’s stepson, Charles David Springer, King testified the man left, and then returned a short time later, again shouting obscenities.
Springer was behind their Chevrolet Blazer where the man stood in the weeds, said King, who also walked to the back of the vehicle.
“(Springer) turned around and looked at me and said ‘Oh (expletive), he has a gun,'” testified King. “Then I seen flames and that’s when I felt something hit me in the chest.”
King was the main witness to take the stand at Thomas Edward Miller II’s homicide trial in Fayette County Court. Miller, 32, of 295 Ronco Road is charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
Although he testified he did not personally know Miller and it was dark during the 2:30 a.m. confrontation, King identified Miller as the man who shot and killed Springer.
A bullet also hit King, and although he said he was unsure if it was the same one that hit Springer, court documents indicate that it likely was the same bullet.
King, who goes by the nickname “Boo,” said he and Springer along with other family members were at Adolph’s Tavern in Masontown the evening of May 11. When the bar closed at 2 a.m., King testified Springer asked him to give him a ride to his sister’s home in nearby Ronco.
During that ride, King testified that Springer, who he said was drunk, started crying because he and his girlfriend had broken up recently. King testified Springer also asked him if he loved him and then requested that he pull over so they could talk.
“He was feeling really down,” King told District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon.
At the intersection of Ronco and Shortcut roads, King testified they sat in the Blazer for about a minute before they heard a man yelling at them to get off his property.
Springer yelled for the man to mind his own business, testified King, and then got out of the car and the two started a verbal shouting match. King told Miller’s defense attorney, Mark F. Morrison, that it was Springer who advanced on Miller as Miller backed toward his house.
After Miller went inside, King testified that Springer remained outside the house, yelling. Eventually, King testified he got Springer back into the Blazer. They were preparing to leave when they once again heard yelling, testified King.
Springer got out of the vehicle again, and King testified he followed. And then, testified King, he saw flames and felt pain.
Several passersby found the pair and went for help. King was taken by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where he spent several days. The slug from the bullet was not removed from his chest, he testified.
A paramedic who was on scene testified that he examined Springer first once he arrived at 2:41 a.m., and found he had no pulse and was not breathing.
Masontown Police Chief John T. Lewis, who went to the scene even though it was just outside the borough, testified that he was still there around 4:30 a.m., when someone from Miller’s house yelled out to him that Miller wanted to talk to him.
Lewis testified he went to take the call and found Miller on the other end. The chief testified he asked Miller where he was during their brief conversation.
“I’m in trouble. I can’t tell you where I’m at,” Lewis testified Miller told him.
Knowing the Miller family, Lewis testified he told Miller he would come and pick him up and make sure he remained safe if he would turn himself in. Still, said Lewis, Miller refused.
“I’m a two-time loser and no one makes threats to my mother and father,” Lewis testified Miller said shortly before ending the conversation.
Jurors also heard testimony from two of Miller’s friends, both of whom told the panel that he asked for help getting out of the area. He left his 7-year-old son with one of the men and neither of them helped him leave.
Miller did leave the area, according to police, and was captured in Cleveland, Ohio on May 14. First Administrative Assistant District Attorney John A. Kopas III told the panel in his opening remarks that Miller stopped off in West Virginia to dye his hair in an attempt to change his appearance before ending up in Ohio.
The trial will pick up again this morning at 8:30 a.m. before Judge John F. Wagner Jr.