Inset: Harold Luster (Jefferson County (Mo.) Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Missouri home where Luster killed his son (Google Maps).
A 63-year-old Missouri father is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison for killing his son, shooting the 26-year-old man in front of his fiancee on Christmas Eve after accusing the couple of “withholding information” about his wife’s affair.
Following a three-day trial, a jury in Jefferson County found Harold E. Luster guilty on one count each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the 2024 slaying of Kevin M. Ward, court records show.
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As Law&Crime previously reported, officers responded to Luster’s home in the 6400 block of Hwy. PP in High Ridge around 8:55 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2024, after a 911 caller reported that a man had been shot in the forehead. Upon arriving, first responders found the victim dead with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Ward’s fiancee told investigators that Luster had killed Ward, identifying the victim as Luster’s son.
She said Luster “became upset with her over the Defendant’s belief of the deceased male’s mother was cheating on him and was accusing the witness of withholding information.”
The situation escalated when Luster threatened the fiancee, asking her, “Do you wanna get shot?”
The fiancee said Ward then told her to retrieve a knife from the truck and instructed her to run and call 911 if “something happened” with his father.
The fiancee retreated to the side of an outbuilding, where she remained close enough to see what was happening between the two men. She said the defendant eventually came out of the residence and that the victim attempted to de-escalate the confrontation.
From the affidavit:
The [fiancee] stated she heard [Ward] say “You’re not going to shoot her” to which she stated [Luster] was heard replying “you wanna get shot instead?” The [fiancee] stated [Luster] approached [Ward]Â and raised his arm which was holding an object, which looked like a firearm and fired a single shot. The witness stated she observed [Ward] fall to the ground.
Surveillance footage from a residence directly across the street appeared to corroborate the witness’s account. The video showed a man believed to be the defendant exiting the rear of the residence and making contact with the victim. The footage then showed the man raising his arm, with what appeared to be a muzzle flash visible moments later.
Ward’s mother told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Ward was expecting his first child when he was killed.
Luster has remained held without bond since his arrest. He is scheduled to be sentenced before 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Travis Partney on Dec. 15. He is subject to a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
The post Dad convicted of killing son on Christmas Eve after accusing victim’s fiancee of ‘withholding information’ about his wife’s affair first appeared on Law & Crime.
