SCRANTON — Jury selection concluded Monday afternoon on the first day of the homicide trial of a Scranton man prosecutors say walked into a convenience store on North Main Avenue and shot a man in the head on March 7, 2024.
Shelton Miles, 65, of 401 W. Market St., remains at Lackawanna County Prison without bail. He stands charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and possession of a prohibited firearm.
Police said Miles, wearing a garbage bag, shot Jose Miguel Tatis-Camilo, who was chatting with the store clerk and buying snack foods for his pregnant girlfriend. Miles then went behind the counter and shot the store clerk in the leg before filling his pockets with cash and fleeing the store, law enforcement officials said.
A slew of law enforcement officers rushed to the Sunoco Convenient Mart and found Tatis-Camilo in a puddle of blood in front of the cash register and Gopi Soni, the cashier, with a gunshot wound to her thigh.
Both were rushed to Geisinger Community Medical Center. Tatis-Camilo died two days later. Soni recovered.
That night, police canvassed the area in an effort to locate Miles and found him in a black Mercedes in a parking lot near West Market Street and Brick Avenue. Miles was arrested as he exited his car.
Police identified Miles from surveillance camera footage from the convenience store, in spite of his attempt to hide his identity by wearing the garbage bag.
Later at the police station, Miles allegedly viewed a photo of himself during the robbery at Sunoco and said, “You showed me my picture. What did I rob?”
The case is before Lackawanna County Judge Terrence Nealon and opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday, according to Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher.
Disturbing video shown at prelim
At Miles’ July preliminary hearing, prosecutors showed disturbing video that appeared to depict Miles shooting Tatis-Camilo in the head and then stepping over his body to get to the cash register.
Miles didn’t attend the preliminary hearing, although he was repeatedly informed he had a right to be there, District Judge Kipp Adcock said during that proceeding.
During that July hearing, Detective Francis McLane narrated surveillance video of the bloody scene which ultimately left Tatis-Camilo dead and had Soni injured and fearing for her life.
During his cross-examination of McLane, Miles’ attorney, Matthew Comerford, asked him if Miles had been psychiatrically evaluated after he was arrested. McLane said he had not.
Miles appeared at Monday’s court proceedings.