Jerald Wayne Mills (August 17, 1969 – November 23, 2013) was an American country musician, known for touring with the Wayne Mills Band for over fifteen years and playing alongside Blake Shelton, Jamey Johnson and 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks.
[4] Mills played baseball for Wallace State Junior College and football for the University of Alabama, earning a bachelor of science degree in education.
[4] In the early hours of November 23, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee, Mills was shot in the head by bar owner Chris Ferrell, allegedly over an argument involving Mills lighting up a cigarette in a nonsmoking area.
On March 6, 2015, Ferrell was found guilty of second-degree murder in Mills' death and received a twenty-year sentence with no possibility of parole.
[10] Mills left behind wife Carol, whom he had married in 2000,[11] seven-year-old son Jack, and six-year-old niece Cali.