A Mobile County constable accused of fatally shooting a man outside a Spanish Fort bar had his bond set at $250,000 during a hearing this week at the Baldwin County Courthouse in Bay Minette.
Larry Sheffield, 68, who has served as an elected constable since winning a write-in campaign in 2012, is charged with murder in the death of 52-year-old Jeffrey McMillan. Authorities say McMillan was shot after midnight in the parking lot of a Spanish Fort bar following an argument that began inside the establishment.
At the bond hearing before a district judge, an assistant district attorney argued that Sheffield started the confrontation over a comment McMillan allegedly made to Sheffield’s wife, and asked the court to set bond at $300,000, citing concerns about danger to the community. Sheffield’s defense attorney pushed for a far lower amount, pointing to his client’s lifelong ties to Mobile County and his declining health.
The defense offered a different version of events, saying Sheffield had already left the bar and was sitting in his vehicle when McMillan approached him in the parking lot, a scenario described as self-defense rather than an unprovoked attack. Investigators are continuing to piece together exactly what happened between the two men in the moments before the shooting.
Sheffield’s legal team also highlighted his health, telling the judge he has battled kidney cancer, has had a kidney and part of a lung removed, and is being treated for additional cancerous growths. Prosecutors countered that his medical condition had not stopped him from going out to a bar and should not factor into how much bond he is required to post.
The judge ultimately set bond at $250,000, a figure between what each side had requested. Sheffield, who has lived in Mobile County his entire life and has resided in the Semmes area for roughly a decade, had been held without bond since his arrest.
The case remains open as both sides continue preparing for further proceedings in Baldwin County Circuit Court.