In the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 31, 2022, the quiet of a Chester, South Carolina neighborhood was broken by a grim discovery. Donald Eric Miller, a 59-year-old man, was found shot to death in a yard on Wylie Street. When law enforcement arrived before 7 a.m., they found Miller, who was also known as 'J.J.', unresponsive with gunshot wounds.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his death was immediately investigated as a homicide.
The investigation into Miller's death continued for several months until a break in the case led to arrests. Through the use of surveillance video from near the scene, investigators were able to identify a suspect. According to the arrest warrant, the video showed a man getting out of a vehicle and shooting Miller multiple times. This man was identified as 22-year-old Marquiez Rodriquez Thompson.
In late August 2022, two men were taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting. Marquiez Rodriquez Thompson was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. At the time the charges were brought against him, Thompson was already incarcerated in the York County jail on unrelated drug and domestic violence charges.
A second individual, 25-year-old Montrell Lamar Graham, was also arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony, which is the failure to report a crime. Authorities allege that video surveillance showed Graham witnessed the shooting but did not cooperate with the police when questioned about the incident. He is accused of refusing to provide information to law enforcement despite the video evidence. At the time of these charges, Graham was in the Chester County jail, also facing a probation violation.
