The man accused of fatally shooting Alabama teenager Kimber Mills at a bonfire party has asked a court to dismiss his charges, arguing his actions were justified under the state's "Stand Your Ground" self-defence law. Steven Tyler Whitehead, 28, faces one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder over the shooting in Pinson, near Birmingham, and the case has drawn wide attention after leaving a well-liked 18-year-old cheerleader dead and three others wounded.

Mills died after Whitehead allegedly opened fire into a crowd of 40 to 50 people during a physical confrontation at a wooded gathering spot known as "The Pit" in the early hours of 18 October 2025. One witness, Silas McCay, said he was shot ten times after he and a friend confronted Whitehead over his behaviour towards Mills, though authorities say neither McCay nor another man charged over the fight fired a weapon. Whitehead, a former National Guardsman, was released on $330,000 bail in January and must wear an ankle monitor; a hearing on his self-defence claim, originally set for this week, has been pushed back to 7 December.