A High Ridge man has been charged for allegedly killing his son, Kevin M. Ward, 26, of St. Louis, on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.
Harold E. Luster allegedly threatened his son’s fiancee before shooting his son in the head, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Luster, 61, was charged today, Dec. 26, with murder, a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison; and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison. As of this morning, he was being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office got a call about the shooting at 8:55 p.m. in the 6400 block of Hwy. PP in High Ridge where Luster lived. When deputies arrived, they found Ward dead.
The victim’s fiancee reported 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 probable-cause statement in the case said.
Ward instructed 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 and Ward fell to the ground, the report said.
Investigators obtained video surveillance from a neighboring residence which 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.