Second twin pleads to obstruction charge in 2021 Cumberland County killing; third suspect awaits trial
A second person pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last month in a 2021 fatal shooting and robbery.
Jeremy Miller, 23, of Gibsonville, pleaded guilty May 15 to felony obstruction of justice — three years to the day that Daniel Christopher Sulton, 36, was gunned down in his driveway
Miller was arrested June 28, 2021, and initially charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. His arrest came after Fayetteville police officers found him in a vehicle that matched the description of one seen leaving the scene of the shooting.
Miller's twin brother, Jermaine Miller, surrendered that same day on identical charges and pleaded guilty May 9 to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice, according to court records.
Also arrested in the killing was Jaylin Maleek Bailey-Murphy, 26, on July 1, 2021. Charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony conspiracy are still pending against him.
The Miller brothers' sentencings will take place after Bailey-Murphy's case is completed, according to the plea arrangements.
The night of the killing
On May 15, 2021, Sulton had just stepped out of his girlfriend's vehicle and was standing in the driveway of his Spearfish Drive home when a man got out of a nearby car, ran up and shot him about 11 p.m.
Cumberland County Sheriff's deputies found Sulton lying in the grass behind a neighbor's home, the record states. The gravely wounded man told deputies, “The neighbor was the person who shot me,” according to court records. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A single 9mm shell casing was found at the scene and a Taurus handgun and a black bag had been stolen from Sulton, the record states.
According to an affidavit, Sulton's girlfriend told investigators that right before the shooting, Sulton was approached by a woman who asked he knew a person whose name the girlfriend did not hear. Moments later, the shooter got out of the same car from which the woman had emerged and shot Sulton, the record states.
Investigators later learned that the woman had been staying at a nearby home and after the shooting, sent an Instagram message to Sulton's neighbor saying, "I had no control over it either and (I don't know) why it went like that.”
Where are they now?
Both Jeremy Miller and Bailey-Murphy are being held in the Cumberland County jail.
Jermaine Miller bailed out of jail in November 2021.
Bailey-Murphy had also bailed out of jail two weeks after he was arrested in the killing but was brought back to the Cumberland County jail on Aug. 16, 2023, on allegations he violated his pretrial release.
According to federal records, while out on bail, Bailey-Murphy, a convicted robber, was arrested in Guilford County for being a felon in possession of a 9 mm handgun.
He pleaded guilty to the federal weapon charge and was sentenced in October 2022 to 33 months in prison.
His murder trial in Cumberland County Superior Court was set to begin May 24 but was continued. A new date has yet to be set.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Two plead guilty to obstruction of justice in 2021 Fayetteville murder
