June 26, 2025
Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County man who fatally shot Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald in 2023 was found guilty on all charges Wednesday and sentenced to life in prison. The photo above shows a memorial to Fitzgerald, who is survived by his wife and four children.
Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County man who fatally shot Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald in February 2023, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison Wednesday.
The jury in Pfeffer's trial began deliberating Wednesday afternoon and reached a verdict around 4 p.m., finding the 20-year-old guilty on all charges, including first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. His sentence also includes 22 1/2 years in prison on top of his life sentence for his conviction on robbery charges.
"You've extinguished the life of a great person," Judge Glenn Bronson told Pfeffer after his sentencing, NBC10 reported. "We add time to a life in prison to send a message. We put you in the category of the worst of the worst."
Fitzgerald was 31 when he died. He is survived by his wife, Marissa, and four children. Marissa Fitzgerald released a statement after the verdict was announced.
"You took everything from me and from our four babies," she said. "You are pathetic, a wannabe and a waste of life. Now you sit here in front of me like the caged animal you are. Your privileged lifestyle days are over."
Pfeffer's trial began Monday — more than two years after Fitzgerald was gunned down while responding to a carjacking alert near Temple's campus. The Fitzgerald family had criticized the time it took to bring the case to trial and prosecutors' decision to not seek the death penalty.
The jury delivered a verdict shortly after deliberations began.
On Feb. 18, 2023, Fitzgerald encountered three people dressed in black while investigating a suspected carjacking at 18th Street and Montgomery Avenue. Two of them ran off as Fitzgerald approached, and he then pursued Pfeffer on foot, leading to a tussle one block away.
Prosecutors said Pfeffer fired a handgun at Fitzgerald during the tussle and continued to shoot while Fitzgerald was on the ground. Pfeffer then tried to steal the fallen officer's gun and went through his pockets before running away, prosecutors said. A nearby Ring camera caught him committing a carjacking minutes later.
Pfeffer was arrested the next morning at his family's home in Buckingham Township, Bucks County.
