Father, 76, accused of killing son during Thanksgiving gathering

An argument over chores led to a deadly confrontation during a Thanksgiving gathering at a Security home Thursday in which a 76-year-old man shot and killed his 49-year-old son, El Paso County sheriff's investigators said.

Ayalis Clay Oliver is being held without bond in the El Paso County jail. Deputies arrested him on suspicion of first-degree murder at his home in the 4000 block of Oberding Drive where the shooting happened. The death is the fifth homicide this year in unincorporated El Paso County.

At about 3:25 p.m. Thursday, deputies were called to the home where they found Keith Oliver of Denver dead with a gunshot wound to the head, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene said Friday.

According to the arrest affidavit by Detective Ralph Losasso, the father and son had been arguing for most of the day Thursday about the son not doing chores. It is unknown what chores they were arguing about.

At some point, the victim’s mother, Marjorie Oliver, 75, asked her son to leave the house, but he refused, Losasso stated.

The father then went to an upstairs bedroom, retrieved a .357-caliber revolver from the nightstand drawer and confronted his son in the garage, the detective said.

Ayalis Oliver told detectives that he exchanged about “five words” with his son before shooting him once. The father told detectives he was “pissed” when he went for his gun.

He confirmed that his son’s final words – overheard by the mother – was that he was trying to stand up like a man and for that his father was going to shoot him.

A detective said Oliver did not remember saying anything to his son before firing the shot.

After shooting his son, the father told investigators, he sat down on the steps, still holding the gun until his wife asked him to put the weapon down.

When deputies arrested Oliver, he was breathing heavily. Oliver said he was OK, but that he had harmed his son.

Another detective said Oliver told them he was on heart medication and not under the influence of alcohol. Oliver told them he was not under any care for a psychiatric disorder.

The father told the detectives he is a former steel mill worker who had served in the military and still worked a daily job.

They said Oliver told them he was paying the rent and making car payments for his twin sons, one of whom was the shooting victim.

Oliver made an initial court appearance on Friday before El Paso County Judge Jonathan Walker, who set the next court date for Dec. 2.

Deputies have not been called to the home previously, nor were they aware of any trouble involving Oliver or his son, Sevene said.