Derrick Miller of Camden hears verdict after murder trial

CAMDEN — A Superior Court jury has cleared a city man accused of a fatal shooting in June 2022.

Derrick Miller, 38, was acquitted of all charges in connection with the death of Charles Copling III of Camden.

Copling was shot on June 17, 2022, on the 1200 block of Decatur Street in the Whitman Park neighborhood. He died later that day at a city hospital, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Miller was charged about a month later with murder and gun offenses.

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He remained in Camden County Jail until the conclusion of his week-long trial on Feb. 15.

A jury deliberated for a little more than two hours over two days before returning not-guilty verdicts, said defense attorney Jordan G. Zeitz of Media, Pa.

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The prosecutor's office was not immediately available for comment.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Miller said in a recorded phone call from jail that Copling had shot him in an alley off Decatur Street.

Two shell casings, each of a different caliber, were found at the crime scene.

Among other points, Zeitz said the prosecution failed to prove that the fatal shot was fired by Miller or with the intent to kill.

It also was not clear which of two guns believed to be in the alley had fired first, the defense attorney said.

And surveillance video showed more than two people had entered the alley about the time of the shooting, he added.

Miller hid in a garage on nearby Dayton Street before going to a hospital, Zeitz sad.

The .45-caliber gun that fired a shot in the alley was found near the garage.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Derrick Miller was held for almost two years before Camden trial