June 23, 2025
Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald was fatally shot while investigating a suspected carjacking in February 2023. His accused killer, Miles Pfeffer, goes on trial Monday. The image above shows a memorial for Fitzgerald.
The Bucks County man who allegedly fatally shot Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald in February 2023 heads to trial Monday.
Miles Pfeffer, 20, faces charges, including first degree murder, for allegedly shooting Fitzgerald, 31, with a handgun during a carjacking. Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty to the dismay of the Fitzgerald family.
On Feb. 18, 2023, Fitzgerald responded to a suspected carjacking at 18th Street and Montgomery Avenue, near Temple's campus. He found three people and pursued one of them — Pfeffer. During a struggle, prosecutors say Pfeffer shot Fitzgerald once, and then fired additional shots as Fitzgerald lay on the ground. He also allegedly tried and failed to take Fitzgerald's gun from his holster before carjacking a vehicle and fleeing the area. Pfeffer was arrested in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, the next morning.
During pretrial proceedings, prosecutors said they plan to show jurors video of the shooting, the Inquirer reported. Additional bodycam footage from the first officer who responded to the shooting was played at a hearing earlier this month.
The Fitzgerald family has criticized the handling of the case and the length of time it has taken to go to trial, and particularly the decision to not pursue the death penalty. Family members have claimed they were denied a meeting with District Attorney Larry Krasner to understand his reasoning and were left in the dark about that decision.
"The issue here is not enough people in the city understand the dynamics of what goes into charging, what goes into leveling a death penalty consideration," Joel Fitzgerald, the slain officer's father and former Allentown police chief, said last summer. "Really, it's consideration of the death penalty. The jury or judge make the decision in the end of the case to say whether that person deserves it or not. Larry Krasner shouldn't make that decision before it hits a courtroom."
