ARCHER COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — A jury was seated Monday in Archer City, and testimony began Tuesday for a 2022 murder case.

The trial of Stephen Parsons got underway Tuesday morning, October 31, in the Archer County Courthouse for the murder of Gary Kuykendall in Holliday last year.

Police said Parsons shot Kuykendall, 55, in the head May 26, 2022, in the 100 block of South Pecan in Holliday.

According to the arrest affidavit, Parsons admitted he shot Kuykendall multiple times.

Parsons has been jailed on $1 million bond since the shooting.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they located a man later identified as Kuykendall lying on the ground with a gunshot wound near the center of his forehead, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

100 block of South Pecan blocked off by crime scene tape.
The incident happened on South Pecan in Holliday.

Authorities said Parsons made multiple admissions to the homicide, including that he “got drunk and shot a man.”

The affidavit said a woman who was part of the incident was transported to the hospital with injuries, but she did not suffer a gunshot wound.

Holliday police, Archer County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Rangers responded to the scene.