NEWS

Singer Wayne Mills' shooter 'acted out of fear,' attorney says

Stacey Barchenger
sbarchenger@tennessean.com

No one denies that Chris Ferrell shot country musician Jerald "Wayne" Mills in November 2013.

But prosecutors and Ferrell's attorney, in outlining their cases during opening statements at Ferrell's trial on Tuesday, described different events leading up to Mills' death. Ferrell, 46, is accused of second-degree murder.

Music stars including Mills flooded Nashville the day of the shooting for a tribute concert to George Jones, the legend who died months earlier.

After the concert, according to the attorneys, Mills and others went to see Shooter Jennings perform in a downtown bar. That's where Mills encountered Ferrell.

They were friends who had known each other 10 years, defense attorney David Raybin told the jury. There are nine women and five men on the jury.

The party later migrated to Ferrell's bar, Pit and Barrel in downtown Nashville, where the shooting took place. Mills' band, the Wayne Mills Band, had played the stage there. Their poster was on the wall, Raybin said.

It was Ferrell, Mills, aspiring artist TJ Howard and two women who lingered past 4 a.m. There was an argument after Mills lit a cigarette and Ferrell told him to put it out.

What happened next is where the attorneys' accounts differ.

Assistant District Attorney Wesley King said Ferrell decided to end "the stupidest of arguments" by killing Mills. King said Ferrell fired two shots, and as Mills was trying to get away, fired a third shot that hit Mills, 44, in the back of his head.

King said Mills was unarmed and trying to get away, evidence that would disprove any defense attempts to claim the shooting was in self-defense.

"That is murder," he said.

Chris Ferrell, 46, is facing a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Wayne Mills.

Ferrell is expected to testify in his own defense. A former Metro police detective, Larry Flair, was hired by the defense to reconstruct the shooting scene.

Raybin, Ferrell's attorney, said Ferrell decided to end the party and was closing down the bar when Mills became a "totally, completely different human being."

Mills was storming through the bar, Raybin said, cursing about a lack of cabs and cocaine in Nashville. When Mills tried to leave the bar with a drink in hand and was told no, Raybin said, Mills smashed the glass on the ground and became a "volcano of violence" toward Ferrell.

Raybin said Ferrell felt threatened by the more than 6-foot, 240-pound Mills and thought he had a weapon. So Ferrell grabbed his own weapon from behind the bar, a .22-caliber handgun, firing three shots. Raybin said Ferrell did not grab a .45-caliber revolver, a more powerful weapon, a sign that Ferrell did not mean to kill Mills.

"He acted out of fear," Raybin said of Ferrell. "He was scared."

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 and on Twitter @sbarchenger.