Citing claim of self-defense, AG won’t bring charges in Bristol shooting

BRISTOL — The state Attorney General’s Office has decided not to prosecute a local man in the shooting death of his father last year, concluding that the evidence in the case supports – or doesn't disprove – the younger man’s claim that he acted in self-defense.

The conclusion was announced Monday in the case of Steven R. Hall, 24, who told investigators that he shot his father, Steven E. Hall, 54, on March 29, 2019, in the apartment the two men shared.

The statement said that “the Attorney General has determined that the State would be unable to disprove that Steven Hall acted in self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. Because such a claim of self-defense would defeat any charges brought by the State, no homicide charges will be brought against Steven Hall,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a report issued Monday.

The younger Hall told investigators that he fired several shots from a revolver after his intoxicated father threatened him with a knife, according to the report. Both weapons were recovered at the scene, the AG's statement said.

The investigation found that the younger Hall fired five shots. One of the bullets went through the elder Hall’s heart and liver, which was ruled the cause of his death, according to the autopsy. The autopsy also found that at the time of his death the father had a blood alcohol level of 0.192 — more than twice the legal limit to drive a motor vehicle.

The two men had been arguing prior to the shooting.

No one else witnessed the shooting, However, the younger Hall was on the phone talking to his girlfriend when he shot his father as he approached the son brandishing a knife.

According to the report, the girlfriend “reported that she did not hear gunshots, (but) she said that she heard three consecutive sounds about ½ second apart, consistent with glass breaking.”

She also told investigators the elder Hall “was a heavy drinker and was ‘never sober.’”

When he called 9-1-1 to report the shooting, the younger Hall told the operator he shot his father because “he didn’t have anything else to stop him,” according to the report.