Associate minister charged in killing of North High staffer

A Minneapolis associate pastor was charged with murder Monday in the fatal shooting of a North High School staff member.

Derrick Trevor Griffin was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder for the death of Kristopher Miller. The North High support staff member was shot to death on his front porch in north Minneapolis on May 10.

Griffin is an associate pastor at True Vine Missionary Baptist Church. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Griffin had been stalking his estranged wife.

"It appears that the motive is that Mr. Griffin's estranged wife had a relationship with the victim," Freeman said.

Griffin called his wife from jail after his arrest and advised her not to talk to police, according to the criminal complaint. The jail recorded the call. Freeman said he's amazed that people still make incriminating statements on jail phones.

"There's a sign right where they use the phone saying, 'This conversation may be recorded,'" he said. "Well, guess what, we record them, and people say really, really dumb things. We're glad they do. They help make our job easier."

Freeman said the investigation was remarkable for its extensive use of technology, including ballistic analysis to match the gun shells, surveillance cameras to track Griffin's vehicle as he fled, cell phone records, and recordings from jail calls made by Griffin after his arrest.

"To those who want to commit crimes, you've got some problems," Freeman said. "We've got a lot better technology than we ever had since the time of Dick Tracy, and we're using it every day."

Griffin remains in custody at the Hennepin County jail.

(Reporter Brandt Williams contributed to this story.)