The man alleged of having murdered influential country performer Wayne Mills during a 2013 bar altercation in Nashville has been found guilty. According to Saving Country Music, the jury in the case deliberated for around two hours before finding Chris Ferrell, the owner of the bar where the incident occurred, guilty. Sentencing will take place on April 10. According to The Boot, he is looking at 15 to 25 years behind bars.
The incident occurred during late 2013 at the Pit and Barrel, the bar owned by Ferrell. The two men had been arguing because Mills was reportedly smoking in the venue's non-smoking section. The fight resulted in the owner pulling a gun and shooting the performer. Although Ferrell was the one who called 911 and claimed that Mills had been attempting to rob him and that he had shot in self-defense, the one shot fired was in the back of Mills head. A police report does indicate that a struggle had occurred however.
The trial was set to begin during November 2014 but was moved back to March, moving relatively quickly for a high profile murder case. Among the individuals presented as potential witnesses were more well known country performers Jamey Johnson and Shooter Jennings, although it doesn't appear either was present. The former, a friend of Mills, was in attendance for the the reading of the verdict.
Ferrell will reportedly appeal the conviction, an uphill battle.
Mills was a familiar name in the country music scene of Nashville, and he had brought a number of future stars along with him as openers when he and his own self-titled band, hit the road. Aside from Johnson, Blake Shelton and Taylor Hicks had travelled with Mills prior to finding fame.
"Extremely sad to hear about the death of my old friend Wayne Mills," Shelton tweeted during 2013 after the incident.
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