When David Miller, 24, the first man to be charged under Maryland?s new fetal homicide law, was arraigned Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, he wasn?t just facing a prosecutor from an office known for its aggressiveness. He was facing the top prosecutor from that office.
Baltimore County State?s Attorney Scott Shellenberger is personally handling the charges against Miller, a married man accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend at a Parkville shopping center ? killing her and their unborn child.
“To our knowledge, it?s the first case of its kind,” Shellenberger said. “With an issue like that, I thought it was important to get involved personally.”
Miller also faces counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault against a friend of Elizabeth Walters, who was with her at the time of the June 11 shooting, and two handgun offenses.
Police did not initially charge Miller with the unborn child?s death, but a 2005 fetal-homicide law allows the criminal count if the state medical examiner rules that the fetus was “viable.”
Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler said his office generally determines viability based on whether the fetus is at least 28 weeks old and weighs at least 500 grams.
Shellenberger is also personally handling the trial of Vaughn Lamont Garris, 36, who is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in the killing of Chontae Waters, 31.
Garris lived next door to Waters on Heatherton Court in Woodlawn and broke into Waters? house, hoping to burglarize it, but Waters was home, and Garris stabbed her multiple times with his knife, police said.
“I just read the facts of the case and met the victim?s dad,” Shellenberger said of his decision to take the Garris case. “I felt it was an important case that called for my attention.”
