ST. LOUIS – Almost three years after a man was shot and killed at an apartment complex, the St. Louis County Circuit Court has sentenced a Webster Groves man to 20 years in prison.
Cole Miller, 25, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm Monday, according to a news release.
In March 2021, Miller shot and killed Sharif Khan on the 700 block of Canterbury Road in University City. The two were in a common space at an apartment building when Khan told Miller to leave.
Others heard the two screaming and Khan striking Miller with a baseball bat he was armed with before several shots were fired. Miller fled the scene with no attempt to help the victim.
Miller had been previously told to stay away from the residence by an apartment leaseholder.
Police found Miller at a bar in Maplewood several hours later. He later admitted to shooting Khan, but said he did it as an act of self-defense.
Miller was a previously convicted felon and was disqualified from possessing a firearm.
“The lesson to this pointless and tragic loss of life is a common one: there are too many guns on our streets, and too many people turn to guns to settle disputes that could be solved in so many better and less violent ways,” Wesley Bell, St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, said. “We pray this guilty plea and prison sentence bring closure to Mr. Khan’s loved ones.”
