A 28-year-old man charged in the fatal shooting of a “bubbly” Alabama cheerleader at a bonfire gathering last year is asking a court to throw out the case, claiming he acted in self-defense under Alabama law.
Steven Tyler Whitehead remains free on bond while facing murder and attempted murder charges in connection with the 2025 death of 18-year-old Kimber Mills. His case is now awaiting a pre-trial immunity hearing, which has been postponed until December 7, according to the Daily Mail.
The deadly shooting unfolded on October 19 outside Birmingham at a popular local hangout known as “The Pit,” where young people had gathered for a bonfire party.
Authorities said Whitehead arrived shortly after midnight and, after a verbal dispute, allegedly began firing into a crowd of roughly 40 to 50 people, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Mills, a Cleveland High School senior and cheerleader who had planned to attend the University of Alabama, was among four people struck by gunfire that night.
Three of the victims survived. Mills, however, was shot in the head and later died from her injuries.
Silas McCay, who was 21 at the time and was allegedly shot 10 times by the gunman, later described the tense moments before the violence erupted.
“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 not someone the group knew.
“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.
But his self-defense claim hinges on the upcoming pre-trial immunity hearing in December, in which a judge will determine whether his 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 local news station ABC 33/40.
Mills’s family would also be unable to sue him.
The teen was described by loved ones as a “bubbly” cheerleader at Cleveland High School who dreamed of becoming a nurse before she was caught in the crossfire.
She was rushed to the hospital and taken off life support days later, with her organs donated.
“She was just very bubbly,” Ashley Mills said of her sister, WVTM13 reported.
“She loved everyone. She could make friends anywhere she went, but she also had that little fiery side where she could get you. I guess I would just say that she had a spunk in her step. She just loved everything. She was just the sweetest.”
