An Alabama arsonist who was shot dead after trespassing onto his neighbor’s property was seen reaching to his waistband seconds before the homeowner opened fire, new footage reveals.
Keith Sullivan has long maintained that he suspected Greg Bagwell was armed when he shot him on his doorstep in the dead of night.
Sullivan was charged over Bagwell’s death, in what many of his supporters view as an affront to the state’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws.
However, prosecutors argue that the married father was unjustified in the killing and shot Bagwell in the back as he was trying to leave the Grove Oak property.
On Tuesday, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict in the case.
Sullivan’s lawyers have now released surveillance footage which shows the seconds leading up to the altercation, played alongside Sullivan recounting the incident to police.
‘I took my pistol went out there. When I went out there, all that’s when he turned like this,’ Sullivan can be seen telling officers.
‘He said, “Oh, I shouldn’t”. He said, “Oh, somebody told me I could be here” or whatever.
‘And he turned like that, and I thought, you know, based on what I heard the shotgun blast there, I said, I don’t know what he’s got, so I just.’
The black and white footage shows Bagwell on the porch appearing to take a step back before reaching down towards his waistband.
A 911 call played to jurors also shows Sullivan recounting the same story to a dispatcher.
‘He turned and I thought he was going for something,’ he tells the operator. ‘He said I’m leaving I’m leaving, but he turned at that time and I thought he was maybe going for something.’
Sullivan pleaded not guilty to murder after being denied immunity under Alabama’s Stand Your Ground Law.
His attorney Thomas Kenniff called the incident the ‘clearest example of stand your ground I have ever seen’ and expressed shock his client faced charges.
Bagwell was shot dead by Sullivan after he turned up on his front porch at around 2am on May 8, 2023.
In the days prior, Sullivan and other neighbors had reported him to the police for acting erratically.
Bagwell has a lengthy rap sheet for arson, shooting at neighbors’ homes, drugs and reckless endangerment.
A previous bond for him had been revoked just three days before he died.
Sullivan is a church music director and teacher who has no criminal history. He has been supported in court by his family and former students.
His defense team previously tried to get the trial dismissed after it emerged a juror had not disclosed a connection to the DA’s office, which is prosecuting a case against an individual accused of selling his son a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced drugs.
However, the motion was rejected and the deliberations, which began on Friday, continued until the jury stated it was ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ yesterday.
Judge Shaunathan Bell declared a mistrial due to the hung jury.
The District Attorney has indicated their intention to retry the case, but a firm trial date has not been set.