Rock Hill gunman said he was a victim. Prosecutors said he lied. The jury’s say mattered most.

The gunman in a 2016 shootout near downtown Rock Hill who acted as his own lawyer at trial was sentenced to 35 years in prison Thursday after being found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and two gun charges.

A jury found that Keenan Miller, 22, a convicted felon on probation at the time who was legally prohibited from possessing a gun, fired into a car with three men in it on March 4, 2016.

Judge John C. Hayes III sentenced Miller to 30 years for each of the attempted murder charges to run concurrent, plus five years for the gun charges.

Jarrius Harding, 18, died when another of the three victims who were shot at in the other car returned fire toward Miller in self-defense, said the prosecutor, 16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Willy Thompson. Harding was shot in the head.

Prosecutors also tried to convict Miller on a murder charge in Harding’s death by claiming that Miller’s actions caused Harding to be killed, but the jury returned a not guilty verdict on the murder.

Thompson, the prosecutor, thanked the jury for the careful consideration after the shootout threatened public safety.

“Hopefully, this verdict and sentence will deter others from this type of violent, senseless criminal activity,” Thompson said after the verdict. “Rock Hill is a safer place without Keenan Miller.”

The trial was a rarity for York County courts, as legal observers said there hadn’t been a murder defendant representing himself at trial in recent memory. Miller dismissed two previous lawyers and chose to defend himself.

Miller testified that he shot in self-defense. But prosecutors Thompson and Chris Epting balked, saying the evidence showed Miller opened fire on a car filled with people described by Miller as “the enemy” without any provocation from the victims.

Miller faced up to 100 years in prison on all the charges.

Rock Hill Police Department Sgt. Bruce Haire testified in the trial at the Moss Justice Center in York that evidence clearly showed Miller shot first and another man in the car fired in self-defense.

Miller’s former girlfriend had previously testified, as a prosecution witness, that she was in the car with Miller at the time. She testified that Miller had a handgun with him and that he shot at the men first after he said they were “the enemy.”

Miller, 22, a convicted felon who was on probation at the time of the shooting, has the right not to speak in court, and to make prosecutors try to convince a jury of his guilt, Judge Hayes said in court. Miller gave up that right Wednesday afternoon, testifying on his own behalf.

Without an attorney representing him, Miller told his version of events to the jury from the witness stand.

He claimed that on March 4, 2016, he was in the car when a man or woman reached into the open window, sprayed him with some type of chemical, then pulled his hoodie over his head.

Miller testified that he wrestled a gun away from the attacker and the gun landed in a car door pocket. He testified that he grabbed the gun and fired several shots, which ended up hitting the other car with the three men in it.

“I just grabbed the gun and started shooting,” Miller testified. “I was in danger.”

Miller testified that the incident took about 10 seconds.

Because Miller had voluntarily testified, prosecutors had the right to cross-examine him on the witness stand.

Willy Thompson, 16th Circuit deputy solicitor, said in court Miller made up a story to try and claim that he was the victim and not the assailant.

“Your story keeps changing. Is it going to continue to change?” Thompson asked Miller in court.

Miller testified that he had blurred vision, and may have lost consciousness when attacked, and that he could not remember all the events. He also testified that he “left some of the details out” when giving his version.

Miller admitted in testimony, during Thompson’s cross-examination, to picking up spent bullet cartridges from inside the car he was in after the shooting. He testified that he fired the gun that wounded the victim at least “four or five times.”

Miller also testified that after the shootings, he went to Charlotte, where he was later arrested. He said he was at a motel where someone else registered the room.

Thompson repeatedly asked Miller why, if he was the victim, he did not go to the police. Under questioning, Miller testified that he was a convicted felon and fired the gun.

“You already admitted you are guilty of possessing a pistol, after being convicted of a crime of violence?” Thompson asked.

“Yes, sir,” Miller said.

Miller testified that the gun was not his, and that he threw it out the car window as he fled.

“They had a gun, I mashed it out of their hand, and I still heard shots, then the gun was in my hand,” Miller testified.

Thompson asked Miller if it was true that the men in the car that was shot at did not shoot at Miller, despite evidence that at least five shots went into the car.

“You fired the .45-caliber gun at them?” Thompson asked.

“Yes sir, I am sure of that,” Miller admitted.

Miller testified that he had a high school confrontation years ago with Harding, the teen who died. Miller alleged Harding was going to try to frame Miller for a weapons charge.

“Are you saying that he (Harding) had a conspiracy to frame you for killing him?” Thompson sacked. “He had to die to frame you?”

Thompson asked Miller why his version of events kept changing. “Because you made it up, didn’t you?” Thompson asked Miller.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Rock Hill gunman said he was a victim. Prosecutors said he lied. The jury’s say mattered most.."