Rapper C-Murder offers witnesses who say he didn’t kill teen

By Andrea Shaw, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
July 21, 2015 at 1:54 PM, updated July 21, 2015 at 5:52 PM

Two new witnesses who say they saw Corey “C-Murder” Miller at a Harvey nightclub during a fight that led to a fatal shooting say the rapper was not involved in the fracas, Miller’s attorney says. The witnesses, including Tim Bush, a former San Antonio Spurs basketball player who was in high school at the time, could have testified to Miller’s innocence, defense attorney Rachel Conner wrote in papers filed in 24th Judicial District Court on Monday (July 20).

After two trials, Miller was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder for killing Steve Thomas, 16. The teen was beaten then shot dead at the Platinum Club on Jan. 12, 2002.

Miller, 44, who has maintained his innocence, is serving a life sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. After numerous appeals were rejected, Conner is now challenging Miller’s conviction, arguing he did not get a fair trial.

She argued that authorities could link Miller to Thomas’ killing with only two eyewitnesses “who had been threatened by law enforcement, had serious potential criminal charges resolved and had to be arrested under material witness warrants in order to ensure their appearance.” Yet had they been contacted, several “credible” witnesses could have testified that Miller was pushed away from the fray and left the club, Conner said.

Among them is Bush, who was a student at Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero. He was contacted by defense attorneys only last year. Bush said he saw another man with a hat enter the fight and fire a shot at Thomas. Bush left the club through a back door and never spoke to police.