When Jay Albert Stevens shot his stepfather to death last week, instead of contacting 911 he took his dogs to his sister for safekeeping and advised her of what he had done. A short while later Stevens flagged down a passing sheriff’s deputy and confessed to killing Mark Edward Kilbourne.
That is just some of the details provided by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office after Stevens was booked into the county jail Sept. 8 on a first-degree murder charge.
According to CCSO, Stevens led deputies to Kilbourne’s home in the community of Sunizona where they located the 61-year-old’s body outside the residence. He had been shot twice in the chest with a handgun and his face had been beaten, something Stevens told detectives he did in a fit of rage after the shooting.
That shooting, Stevens said, had been a long time coming, as the two men had an acrimonious relationship. They had spent much of Sept. 7 drinking beer, and at some point late that night the stepfather accused Stevens of not reading the Bible.
It was just one of several insults he was subjected to the last four years after moving to Arizona to help care for his mother, Stevens told investigators. Stevens remained in the house in central Cochise County for several hours, all the while getting madder about the insult.
It was then the Stevens confronted his stepfather inside the house while pointing a gun at Kilbourne’s face. When the stepfather responded in a dismissive manner, Stevens says he fired one shot at Kilbourne’s chest with the intent to “kill him.”
Stevens then fired another round to the chest before pummeling the man’s face several times, he told detectives.
In a post-Miranda statement, Stevens described how he dragged his stepfather’s body outside. He considered burying it or moving it into the desert, but ended up
leaving it there because he was simply “too lazy.” He then realized he would be arrested, so he took his dogs to his sister’s home a few miles away.
After advising his sister to call 911, Stevens left her residence and was found walking on a road shortly after 1 a.m. by a CCSO deputy. It is unclear whether anyone called 911 before the deputy came into contact with Stevens. Also, there is no mention in the documents already released by CSSO about the whereabouts of Kilbourne’s wife at the time of the shooting.
Stevens did not resist arrest and was cooperative in directing deputies to the crime scene a few miles away. He was booked into the Cochise County jail the same morning on suspicion of first-degree premeditated murder as well as abandonment of a dead body.
Bail has been set at $1 million. Stevens’ next court date is currently scheduled for Sept. 19.
Kilbourne lived in the small rural community of Sunizona off State Highway 181. The community is served by the post office in Pearce, which is why some early reports describe the murder as happening in Pearce. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Westlawn Chapel and Mortuary in Willcox.
