His sentencing has not been scheduled as of Tuesday.
Miller previously waived his right to a jury in September and opted to be tried by a judge.
He was accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Dameka Bennett-Ross and injuring a 28-year-old man from the backseat of a car on Feb. 22, 2023. Dayton officers were called to Kettering Health Dayton after the man showed up at the hospital with a gunshot wound, Lt. Steven Bauer said previously.
While at the hospital police learned of a second victim on state Route 49 near Little Richmond Road. Trotwood police responded and found Bennett-Ross dead inside the vehicle.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
In a verdict announced on Tuesday, Dankof wrote the state failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt Miller was the shooter.
Miller, Bennett-Ross, the injured man, one of the injured man’s friends and another woman were reportedly hanging out and driving around together prior to the shooting.
The judge noted the injured man did not identify the shooter immediately after the incident and only told a detective that a cigarette collected by evidence technicians from the back seat had been lit by him and smoked by the shooter.
The cigarette butt contained a DNA mixture of the injured man and an unknown male profile that excluded Miller, according to court documents.
About a week after the shooting, the injured man reportedly identified as the shooter as Miller.
Dankof noted the other woman in the vehicle testified Miller had been dropped off at his sister’s house shortly before the shooting and was not in the vehicle when the shooting took place.
She identified the shooter as an unknown man whose description matched the injured man’s friend, according to court records. The injured man reportedly knew the friend by a nickname and does not know his legal name.
In his verdict Dankof added the man’s friend was not interviewed in person by police and a DNA sample had not been obtained from him.
Despite writing the prosecution did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt Miller was the shooter, Dankof said they did prove he had a handgun, as evidenced by social media videos taken that night.
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