“She was a sparkling soul who lit up every room she entered.” The Alabama community of Pinson is mourning 18-year-old cheerleader Kimber Mills, whose life was cut short after a shooting at a party.
Deputies arrived at Highway 75 North on October 19, 2025, to find three people shot. A 27-year-old man, Steven Tyler Whitehead, was arrested and charged with murder. Police say a fight broke out after the suspect approached a girl at the party and her boyfriend intervened. Kimber, standing nearby, was hit in the head and leg.
Her sister Ashley said doctors told the family “there is no surgery that would give her a life worth living.” Kimber was placed on a DNR, and her organs were donated as she wished. “She has had the biggest gathering for honor walk the doc has ever seen!” Ashley wrote. Her heart went to a 7-year-old boy in Ohio, and her lungs to a woman in New York.
Hundreds joined her honor walk at UAB Hospital. Classmates wore pink at a vigil, remembering her bright spirit. “We shouldn’t be burying our little sister,” Ashley said.
A GoFundMe raised over $26,000 for her family, as Kimber’s final act of generosity continues to give life to others.