A billboard in honor of Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald along Route 130 in February. PHILADELPHIA — The family of a slain Temple University police officer has sued Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County 18-year-old charged with his death, and his parents, asserting that the February shooting “could and should have been prevented” by those closest to Pfeffer.
The complaint was filed by Philadelphia attorney Joseph Marrone on behalf of Fitzgerald’s wife, Marissa, and his parents, Joel and Pauline,. It seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages awarded to Fitzgerald’s estate, including his wife, parents, and five children. Pfeffer is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Fitzgerald, a 31-year-old officer who had been with Temple University’s police force since 2021. Fitzgerald was patrolling near Temple’s campus on Feb. 18 when he stopped Pfeffer, his brother, and another teen in black clothing and masks following reports of carjackings and robberies in the area.
The night of the shooting, Pfeffer and his brother were dropped off in the city by their mother while she and her boyfriend attended “a social event in Center City,” the lawsuit said. The siblings then made their way to North Philadelphia. After the shooting, Pfeffer’s mother picked him up from the Ridge Avenue home and drove him to their bucolic Buckingham Township farm property, authorities said. It is not clear what, if anything, Pfeffer told her.