UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — A Maplewood man suspected in a fatal shooting in University City has been arrested and charged.
Cole Miller, 23, of Maplewood, was charged Thursday with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and receiving stolen property. The victim, identified as 32-year-old Sharif Khan of Creve Coeur, died at a hospital after University City police found him with gunshot wounds at 762 W. Canterbury Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Police recovered two .380-caliber shell casings at the scene and a cellphone later determined to belong to Miller. He was arrested Wednesday night at a bar and grill on South Big Bend Boulevard in Maplewood. Officers found Miller’s truck with a .380 Ruger LCP inside. The gun had been reported missing in Franklin County.
Miller is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
One witness heard shouting Wednesday afternoon and another saw Khan and a man involved in an altercation. Khan threw a punch, one witness said, and then there was gunfire.
Khan’s girlfriend lived at the University City apartment where Khan was killed, according to charging documents. Police said she had been having issues with a transient man known to her as ''John Mills,'' and she gave police his phone number. Police said it was the same number from which Miller had called Monday alleging the woman had been kidnapped.
Miller told police he went to the apartment because he believed she was being trafficked, charging documents stated. Miller said he had argued with a man, who knocked the cellphone out of his hands, and he shot him three times during a struggle. Miller identified the cellphone recovered the scene as his.
Police said Miller poses a danger to Khan’s girlfriend because he has a “romantic fixation” with her and knows her schedule.
According to court records, Miller is on probation for two gun charges in St. Louis County and has a pending case of domestic assault and harassment in St. Louis.
