Summary
Charleston detectives have restarted their investigations into the murders of Leland Chace Miller and Elwood Pegram, two of the citys four unsolved killings of the past five years. Chief of Detectives Steve Cooper held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the Roosevelt Neighborhood Center on Ruffner Avenue and announced that two detectives are working full time on resolving the cases. Two young friends of Miller held a banner that bore the images of the pair. Cooper said detectives Eric Smith and Jarl Taylor are using age-old strategies and some new technology to try to flush out new evidence and potential witnesses. Cooper wouldnt go into detail about those techniques. Miller, 17, was gunned down almost two years ago a block away from his home in the 1500 block of Lewis Street in the East End. Pegram was found shot dead in October 2008 in his SUV, which had been riddled with bullets at the intersection of Stockton Street and 6th Avenue on the West Side. In cases like these windows of opportunity open as time goes by, hopefully creating a scenario by which we can prosecute cases, Cooper said. Police have run into problems in both cases regarding witnesses who may have seen the crimes committed but wont come forward. Investigators have said that several individuals were spotted around the East End in the weeks after Millers death in 2007 wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words Stop Snitching. A Charleston teen was arrested for Millers murder in 2007 after an eyewitness came forward and identified him as the shooter. However, before the teen could be transferred to adult status, the witness fell off and didnt want to talk, Detective Jarl Taylor said. The county prosecutor at the time ordered that teen to be released and the case was shelved until recently. The case regarding Pegram, 38, is far different. Pegrams body was found one October morning in his overturned Ford Explorer. His body sustained multiple gunshot wounds and his SUV had been riddled with bullet holes. While police say they have made great strides investigating his murder, no one has been named a suspect and no one has been arrested. Authorities say a major challenge is a lack of witnesses at the scene. Police said at the time they didnt believe anyone actually saw the shooting but that they had witnesses who said they saw the shooters both before and after the incident took place. The witnesses also told officers theyd heard the shots fired and the sound of the car crashing. Police department officials say they hope that with the help of several community leaders, including the Rev. Lloyd Hill of the Charleston Black Ministerial Alliance, witnesses to both crimes will speak up. Ever since Chace was gunned down, weve been praying, and when we heard the police were reopening the case, we thought it was just the answer to our prayers, Hill said. Hill said he hoped officers didnt run into the same stumbling blocks with uncooperative witnesses. Its not about snitching, its about doing the right thing, he said. The only reason these cases havent been solved is because people who know what happened dont have the courage to come forward and do the right thing. Millers parents stood silently by while Cooper made his announcement. Betty Justice, Millers mother, said she appreciates the police departments efforts to dedicate resources to the investigation. Justice, who still lives in her Lewis Street home with Millers father, David Miller, said tearfully that living without her son is hard every day. Justice said she has reason to believe her son was shot in a dispute over a girl, but she isnt sure of the exact circumstances. Miller had been sitting on a set of steps near 1423 Lewis Street on a warm August evening when he was shot several times in the back, she said. Police said that since 2004 there have been 27 homicides in Charleston, and all but four have been resolved. Over the last several years all of our homicide cases have been solved but a handful, and those still need to be brought to justice, Cooper said. The case of 29-year-old Jody Gray, who was found shot dead in his Washington Manor apartment in July 2005, is similar to that of Miller in that police made an arrest but prosecutors eventually dropped the charges because of insufficient evidence and problems with witnesses, Cooper said. Police said Gray was involved in drug trafficking and was possibly killed over a turf war or a robbery. No arrests have been made in the killing of 17-year-old Hakeem Brown, who was found on the corner of Thompson and Jackson Streets in July 2006 with several gunshot wounds in his back. Anyone with information on these investigations is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 304-348-6480.
BOB WOJCIESZAK/DAILY MAIL Charleston Police Chief of Detectives Steve Cooper announces the reopening of the Chace Miller and Elwood Pegram murder cases during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the Roosevelt Neighborhood Center in the East End.See the full content of this document
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Police Reopen Two Unsolved Murders
Rev....
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