Man accused of murdering Alabama teen cheerleader, spraying bullets at buddies, launched on bond
The person accused of gunning down an Alabama highschool cheerleader at a bonfire celebration and capturing three others whereas one sufferer tried to protect her has been launched from jail on bond.
Steven Tyler Whitehead, charged with homicide within the demise of 18-year-old Kimber Mills and tried homicide for wounding three others, bonded out of the Jefferson County Jail Thursday after a choose set bond at $330,000. As a situation of his launch, Whitehead should put on an digital monitoring gadget, WBRC reported.
Mills, a senior at Cleveland Excessive Faculty, was shot in October 2025 throughout a late-night bonfire in a closely wooded space recognized domestically as “The Pit,” close to Freeway 75 North and Clay-Palmerdale Street in Pinson, Alabama.
Authorities stated the gathering turned violent after Whitehead arrived shortly after midnight and have become concerned in a verbal and bodily confrontation earlier than pulling out a gun and opening fireplace.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Workplace beforehand stated Whitehead fired a number of rounds throughout the chaos, hanging Mills and three others.
One of many victims, 21-year-old Silas McCay, later instructed WBRC he was shot 10 instances — within the leg, hip, rib cage, abdomen, finger, pelvis and thigh — whereas attempting to guard his buddies, together with Mills.
“I take a look at her like a little bit sister to me,” McCay stated from his hospital mattress. “I attempted every little thing I may. I want there was extra I may’ve achieved.”
McCay stated the violence erupted after he and one other man confronted Whitehead, who he claimed was trying to speak to Mills earlier than a combat broke out.
“My ex-girlfriend got here as much as me on the celebration and stated he was attempting to do stuff to this woman named Kimber,” McCay stated. “My buddy and I discovered him, and we began preventing him. I grabbed him and put him over my shoulder and had him on the bottom. My buddy pulled me off him, and that’s when he pulled his gun out and began capturing.”
In keeping with WBRC, McCay and one other man, Hunter McCullouch, 19, have been later charged with third-degree assault in reference to the altercation that broke out earlier than the capturing. Authorities haven’t alleged that both man fired a weapon. McCay was amongst these shot throughout the gunfire.
Mills was rushed to UAB Hospital in Birmingham after being shot within the head and leg, based on Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush. Regardless of medical doctors’ efforts, her accidents proved too extreme.
Her sister, Ashley Mills, introduced Kimber’s demise in a Fb submit following an emotional honor stroll on the hospital that drew lots of.
“Our candy child sister went to be with the Lord at 7:08 p.m. final night time,” Ashley Mills wrote on the time. “She had the most important gathering for an honor stroll the physician had ever seen. She was and is so beloved by so many. We’ll miss you, Kimber.”
Ashley Mills beforehand stated the household made the tough choice to put Kimber on a do-not-resuscitate order because of the extent of her mind accidents and honor her want to be an organ donor.
“She has an excessive amount of trauma to her mind,” Ashley Mills stated. “We don’t need to harm her anymore attempting to convey her again.”
Buddies and family members remembered Mills as a brilliant presence with a contagious smile. She was a cheerleader and monitor athlete at Cleveland Excessive Faculty and had deliberate to attend the College of Alabama in 2026, the place she hoped to change into a nurse.
“She had a little bit spunk to her step,” her sister stated.
Regardless of being gravely wounded himself, McCay stated he visited Mills within the hospital earlier than her demise.
“She was telling me she beloved me by squeezing my hand,” he stated.
Following information of Whitehead’s launch on bond, Ashley Mills shared her response on Fb, expressing concern and frustration.
“Justice for Kimber! That’s all we would like,” she wrote. “That’s simply extra anxiousness for me figuring out he’s out. I’ll keep residence.”
The Jefferson County District Legal professional’s Workplace declined to elaborate on the bond choice, telling Fox Information Digital it had no further info to share.
