Although District Judge Jesse Harris refused to delay the trial after defense lawyers filed a motion March 12 to "stay further proceedings" until the U.S. Supreme Court decides if the death penalty can be imposed against those who murder at age 17, the judge indicated that his docket is filled with other murder trials and that the case can not be tried before the fall. Harris also rejected a defense motion Thursday to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty for Miller.
Miller, now 18, will stand trial on seven felonies, including one count of first-degree murder for the death of Stanley Paul Silkey, a Vian High School graduate, and three counts each of robbery with a firearm and shooting with intent to kill.
Miller allegedly shot Silkey, 30, during a Tulsa convenience store robbery in August. Silkey was working as an assistant manager at a Tulsa Git-n-Go store when he was fatally shot after he complied with a gunman's demand for cash.
Heather Gale Sanders, a co-defendant on two counts, received a 10-year term in December as a youthful offender.
Sanders said she drove Miller from the scene of two robberies, including the one in which Silkey was killed.
