The chilling final words of a young man who was reportedly 'shot in the head' by his own father while protecting his pregnant fiancée have been revealed.
Kevin Ward had stopped by his father's home in High Ridge on Christmas Eve when the pair reportedly became embroiled in a heated argument which resulted in a fatal gunshot to the head, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The 26-year-old and his pregnant fiancée, Kaitlyn, were due to celebrate Christmas at Kevin's mom's house, Katherine Ward, but decided to briefly visit his father, Harold Luster, having made the trip home from St. Louis.
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However, Kevin tragically didn't make it to his mom's for the holidays.
The incident reportedly unfolded as Kevin and Harold argued over cheating allegations relating to Katherine - and the 61-year-old allegedly initially pulled a gun out on Kaitlyn.
The Kansas City Star reports that Harold suspected Kaitlyn had been 'withholding information' and said to the fiancee, 'do you wanna get shot?'
From there, the situation escalated. Kevin told her 'to run and call 911 if something happened' as he stepped in and tried to calm the situation.
CCTV footage from a neighbor's home shows a flash went off and a victim falling to the ground with an apparent injury to the head.
When police and emergency services arrived at the scene, Kevin was found deceased with his hands in his pockets.
Harold has since been charged with first-degree murder and armed with criminal action.
He has been jailed without bond.
Now, court documents reveal the chilling final words Kevin uttered before he was fatally shot.
Speaking to his father, he reportedly said: "You're not going to shoot her", to which Harold allegedly replied: "You wanna get shot instead?"
Kaitlyn then claimed to see her soon-to-be father-in-law shoot a single shot at Kevin's head before he collapsed to the ground.
Kevin's heartbroken mother has since spoken out about the traumatic loss of her son in her appeal for justice.
"A senseless act took my baby away from me", Katherine said to KSDK on Friday, before recounting some details of the altercation.
She continued: "[Harold] and another family member had been arguing prior, that did not have nothing to do with Kevin.
"He was already worked up over that incident."
The mom also claimed Harold had called her during the heated argument and could hear her son saying: 'Dad, why are you doing this? I don't deserve this', before he ended the call.
"Kevin died with a gunshot to his forehead and his hands tucked in his pockets", she continued, "He was ultimately going to shoot Kevin’s fiancée and Kevin sacrificed himself, he was the hero that night.
"He would rather die than have her and that baby taken."
Liv Bridge