A soon-to-be Missouri father was allegedly shot and killed protecting his pregnant fiancée during an argument with his dad on Christmas Eve as his mother waited for the couple at her home to celebrate the holiday.
Harold Luster was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of his son Kevin Ward.
“A senseless act took my baby away from me,” Katherine Ward tearfully told KSDK on Friday.
Ward said Kevin, 26, and his fiancée, Kaitlyn, had visited Luster, 61, on Christmas Eve before the couple planned on heading to her home.
“(Harold) and another family member had been arguing prior, that did not have nothing to do with Kevin,” Ward explained.
“He was already worked up over that incident.”
Luster allegedly accused Ward’s mother of cheating on him and accused Kaitlyn of “withholding information,” the outlet reported, citing court records.
Police said Luster grabbed a gun when Kevin intervened.
According to the Kansas City Star, Luster asked Kaitlyn if she wanted to get shot.
Ward said Luster called her during the argument as she was preparing to have the couple over for Christmas Eve and heard her son saying, “Dad, why are you doing this? I don’t deserve this,” before he ended the call.
He is accused of fatally shooting his son in the forehead moments later
Luster then allegedly called Ward a second time — telling her he had shot someone.
“Kevin died with a gunshot to his forehead and his hands tucked in his pockets,” Ward told the outlet.
“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.”
The grieving mother said she never cheated on Luster, describing their relationship as “on and off again.”
She also claimed he was physically and mentally abusive to her and was living with another woman at the time he allegedly killed their son.
Kevin and Kaitlyn were expecting their baby in June, his mother said.
Ward, a maintenance worker at the Missouri Department of Transportation, said her son’s main goal was to buy his child a home and build a loving family.
“I will have to sit there and hold his baby for the first time because he won’t be able to,” Ward told the outlet with tears streaming down her face.
“My son was the best. He was a great kid that didn’t deserve that night and I wish 1,000 times he never went down there. But me and him never would have thought this would ever happen. It’s almost like I’m in a nightmare and I can’t get out.”
Luster was arrested Wednesday night and charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of his son.
He is jailed in Jefferson County without bond.
He pleaded not guilty Thursday and will return to court on Jan. 3 for his bond review hearing, according to KSDK.
Ward, who is expected to attend the hearing, said she will fight to make sure her son did not die in vain.
“My son cannot breathe, my son cannot walk, my son cannot see, my son is not here no more. Why should (Harold) get the pleasure of sitting, even though it’s a jail cell, he’s still alive, and I want him to suffer every day at that memory,” Ward stated.
“As far as justice, he deserves life.”
