Bluffton man goes back to court in Hilton Head slaying 8 months after mistrial

A 24-year-old Bluffton man accused in the October 2015 shooting death of a Hilton Head Island man is scheduled to stand trial this week in Beaufort County court, approximately 8 months after a mistrial for the same case.

A mistrial was declared in May 2017 in the case against Brian Allen Jr. after the jury failed to reach a verdict. Allen is accused of shooting 30-year-old Charles Miller on Oct. 22, 2015, outside a Snider Walk home. Miller was later pronounced dead at Hilton Head Hospital.

Allen, 22 years old at the time, was arrested on murder and weapons charges by the Hardeeville Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service Southeastern Fugitive Task Force just after 9 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2015, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release at the time. A handgun was recovered from Allen’s room at Magnolia Motel in Hardeeville and the incident was believed to have been an armed robbery.

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Bluffton man goes back to court in Hilton Head slaying 8 months after mistrial."