PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A former state trooper has been charged in the 2014 shooting death of his pregnant wife – three years after an initial investigation cleared him of wrongdoing in the case.
Joseph Miller, 36, was arraigned Friday on two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of JoAnna Miller and their newborn baby, prosecutors in suburban Philadelphia said.
JoAnna Miller was 24 weeks pregnant when she was shot in the head in the family room of their East Norriton home on March 7, 2014, as she organized children’s clothes. She died at a hospital after delivering the girl via an emergency C-section. The baby, named Gillian, died shortly thereafter.
In a call Joseph Miller placed to 911 after the shooting, he tells a dispatcher: “I, ah, was cleaning. I was about to clean my gun, and I didn’t realize there was a round … I shot my wife.” He can then be heard consoling children, saying, “Guys, guys, guys, it’s OK.”
The couple has four other children.