Gill Acquitted By Jury

A Stone County jury found Steven Alan Gill of Luber not guilty on charges of battery in the first degree, battery in the third degree, and aggravated assault following a trial last week.

Gill, who was 60 years old at the time of the incident on Aug. 31, 2024, had been arrested in connection with a 13-year-old boy being shot with a small caliber weapon. The minor was flown to Little Rock for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Following the incident, Stone County Sheriff Brandon Long said that shots had been fired toward two boys near a pond on Claudia Road in the Luber area. The 13-year-old had been in the shoulder near his neck with a small caliber gun. He and another boy had been fishing in a farm pond near Gill’s residence when the incident occurred.

At one point, a charge of attempted murder was filed, but that was later reduced.

According to a court official, Gill presented a defense that the shooting was accidental.