Steven Tyler Whitehead standing trial for shoooting death of Kimber Mills, Alabama cheerleader at bonfire party claims legal self defense in Stand Your Ground defense as he seeks to get case acquitted.
A man accused of fatally shooting an Alabama cheerleader at a bonfire party last year is seeking to have his charges dropped, arguing his actions were justified as self-defense under state law.
Steven Tyler Whitehead, 28, remains out on bond with pending murder and attempted murder charges over the 2025 killing of 18-year-old Kimber Mills while awaiting a pre-trial immunity ‘Stand Your Ground’ hearing — which was just pushed back to December 7, according to the Daily Mail.
If immunity is granted, Whitehead could have all criminal charges dropped and spared having to go to trial.
The shooting occurred on October 19, just outside of Birmingham at a location dubbed ‘The Pit,’ where local youth hang out.
Whitehead, 28, showed up at the party just after midnight and allegedly opened fire into a large crowd of 40 to 50 people following a verbal altercation with attendees, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Mills, a senior at Cleveland High School who planned to attend the University of Alabama, was one of four people shot at the bonfire.
While the other three revelers survived, the cheerleader was shot in the head and later died from her injuries.
Silas McCay, then 21, who was allegedly blasted 10 times by the gunman, recalled the moments leading up to the violence.
‘My ex-girlfriend came up to me at the party and said [Whitehead] was trying to do stuff to this girl named Kimber,’ McCay told WRBC, adding that Whitehead was a stranger to all of them.
‘My buddy and I found him, and we started fighting him. I grabbed him and put him over my shoulder and had him on the ground. My buddy pulled me off him, and that’s when he pulled his gun out and started shooting. I tried everything I could,’ McCay said.
Whitehead claims he fired his gun in self-defense.
The defendant’s self-defense claim hinges on the upcoming pre-trial immunity hearing in December, in which a judge will determine whether Whitehead’s use of deadly force was legally justified under Alabama law.
While charges against Whitehead are still pending, the hearing could provide a path to total immunity.
If the judge rules in his favor, the charges will be thrown out entirely and he cannot be tried, according to ABC 33/40.
Mills’s family would also be unable to sue him.
Leading up to her tragic death, Mills a ‘bubbly’ cheerleader at Cleveland High School who dreamed of becoming a nurse before she was caught in the crossfire.
Rushed to hospital and taken off life support days later, her organs were donated. The girl’s family and friends lined up the procession hall as the 18-year old was been wheeled so her heart and lungs couldd be donated. and given to someone for a new chance at life.
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