Dad upset over accusations his partner was cheating shoots and kills son, MO cops say

A father shot and killed his 26-year-old son, who was trying to protect his fiancée before his dad turned the gun on him, Missouri authorities say.

Harold Luster, 61, is now charged with murder following the Dec. 24 fatal shooting outside of a home in High Ridge, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

He is accused of killing Kevin Ward, his 26-year-old son visiting from St. Louis, authorities said.

Ward’s fiancée told responding deputies she was in a disagreement with Luster over accusations his partner, Ward’s mother, was cheating on him, according to a probable cause statement. He accused her “of withholding information.”

“Do you wanna get shot?” Luster said to the woman, according to the court documents.

Ward asked his fiancé to give him a knife and “told her to run and call 911 if something happened,” authorities said. As she began to leave the property, she heard Ward attempt to calm down his father.

“You’re not going to shoot her,” Ward told his father, according to the probable cause statement.

“You wanna get shot instead?” Luster is accused of telling his son.

The woman then saw her partner’s father fire a single shot at his forehead, then witnessed Ward collapse to the ground, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting was also captured in surveillance footage from a neighboring home, the sheriff’s office said. The video showed a muzzle flash after a man raised his arm, then the victim falling to the ground.

Luster was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, court records show. He was jailed without bond.

High Ridge is about a 25-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.

This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Dad upset over accusations his partner was cheating shoots and kills son, MO cops say."