A Baldwin County District Court judge has ruled there is enough evidence to send a murder case against a Mobile County constable to a grand jury, following a preliminary hearing that laid out competing versions of a deadly confrontation outside a Spanish Fort bar.
Larry Sheffield, 68, is charged in the death of 52-year-old Jeffrey McMillan, who was shot in the parking lot of Traders in Spanish Fort on July 20. A Spanish Fort police investigator testified that Sheffield told officers his gun discharged accidentally during a struggle while McMillan was on top of him, but the officer said that account does not line up with the physical evidence found on McMillan’s body or at the scene, including a mark from the gun barrel left on the victim’s head.
According to testimony, the two men had been friendly earlier in the evening before tensions escalated into two separate confrontations at the bar. The first involved a shoving match inside, after which Sheffield left money at the bar and walked out to his truck. Investigators say McMillan later came outside as well, leading to a second, fatal encounter in the parking lot. Witnesses nearby told police they heard only a gunshot and did not see the altercation itself.
Sheffield’s attorney argued the shooting was a clear case of self-defense under Alabama’s stand-your-ground law, saying his client had a right to protect himself once McMillan approached him outside. The defense contends Sheffield was leaving the scene peacefully when the confrontation was renewed.
Prosecutors pushed back forcefully, with a Baldwin County assistant district attorney telling the court that evidence points to Sheffield as the aggressor who exited his vehicle and approached McMillan rather than the reverse. Prosecutors said forensic evidence is expected to contradict key parts of Sheffield’s account of how the parking lot confrontation unfolded.
Following the hearing, the judge determined probable cause exists for the case to proceed, meaning a grand jury will now decide whether to formally indict Sheffield. He remains held at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on a $250,000 bond while the case moves forward.
The case has drawn attention in the Spanish Fort and Baldwin County community both because of Sheffield’s role as an elected Mobile County constable and because of the stand-your-ground defense that is likely to be central if the case goes to trial.