A Jefferson County jury has found a High Ridge man guilty of shooting and killing his son on Christmas Eve 2024, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Trisha Stefanski said in a Facebook post today, Sept. 11.
After a three-day trial, the jury on Thursday, Sept. 11, found Harold E. Luster, 63, guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, Stefanski said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15.
Courtney Goodwin, Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney, prosecuted the case.
Luster shot and killed Kevin M. Ward of St. Louis after threatening his son’s fiancee, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported. Ward was 26.
The Sheriff’s Office was called at about 8:55 p.m. Dec. 24, 2024, to the 6400 block of Hwy. PP in High Ridge where Luster lived. When deputies arrived, they found Ward dead.
The victim’s fiancee told investigators Luster became upset with her because he believed Ward’s mother was cheating on him and the fiancee was withholding information about the alleged infidelity.
Luster asked her, “Do you wanna get shot?” as he retrieved something from inside his residence, the case’s probable-cause statement said.
Ward told his fiancee to get him a knife and then run and call 911 if something happened. She said she ran to the side of an outbuilding and heard Ward say, “You’re not going to shoot her,” and then Luster say, “You wanna get shot instead?”
The fiancee said Luster fired the gun at Ward, the report said.
Investigators obtained surveillance video from a neighboring home that shows a male raise his arm and what appears to be a muzzle flash as a second person falls to the ground, the probable-cause statement said.