NEED TO KNOW
- Family members of 18-year-old Kimber Mills say she was caught in a shooting between her friend’s boyfriend and the 27-year-old suspect
- Steven Tyler Whitehead was arrested on a murder charge over the weekend; no deaths had been reported as of Tuesday noon
- Mills’ family says they are preparing for her surgery for organ donation
An Alabama family says their teen daughter will be declared deceased on Tuesday afternoon after she was left brain-dead during a shooting at a bonfire in the early morning hours of Sunday.
Kimber Mills, 18, was given just a few days to live after she was shot at a bonfire over the weekend, AL.com reported.
Police responding to a shooting at a Pinson, Ala., residence early morning on Sunday, Oct. 19, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Authorities took 27-year-old Steven Tyler Whitehead into custody on a charge of murder, per the sheriff’s office’s statement, though Mills was still alive at the time of the arrest.
Mills’ sister, Ashley Mills, says the victim was at a bonfire event when there was an altercation and the teen was caught in the “crossfire,” AL.com reported.
Four people were injured in the shooting, the sheriff’s office said. Mills was taken to the hospital alongside an 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old man. Another woman, 20, was also injured and taken to a hospital in a personal vehicle. All are currently alive.
Mills’ family says doctors had given the cheerleader just days to live as they began preparing for a difficult journey ahead, per AL.com, WVTM 13 and WBRC reported.
Ashley previously told the outlets that doctors have said no intervention can save her life.
“We’ve opted to just let her body do what it needs to do,” Ashley told AL.com, adding that the family has “a DNR because we don’t want to hurt her anymore trying to bring her back.”
She told the outlet that after the doctors declare Kimber brain dead, they will start the process of organ donation and have an “Honor Walk” for her.
On Tuesday morning, Mills’ cousin Morgan Kaye Metz shared on Facebook that the “Honor Walk” is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday and a surgery — potentially organ donation surgery — is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“She is giving the greatest gift of all today. Life,” Metz shared in the post. “She was a blessing and now she gets to bless others.”
Kimber, a senior cheerleader and track runner, wanted to become a nurse, Ashley told AL.com.
“She had a little spunk to her step,” she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to assist Kimber’s family during this time.
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As of Tuesday, Oct. 21, noon, no deaths had been reported from the shooting. When contacted by PEOPLE, the sheriff’s office said they will share an update later on Tuesday, but declined to comment further on the murder charge.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Whitehead has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
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