Powell County Man Charged With Attempted Murder

{Stanton, Kentucky}...Sterling Esteppe, 54, was charged with two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment and attempted murder Friday after police say he shot his son, 32 year old Dean Esteppe, at a home on Snow Creek Road, south of Clay City, in Powell County just after 9:30 P.M. Thursday night. Police say, earlier Thursday, Sterling Esteppe had wrecked a moped and was being teased by his son Dean, his wife, Angie, and his cousin, Joe Hall, who were calling him Evel Knievel, just joking around. Police say Sterling Esteppe was joking around with them when he suddenly went after his son and threw his wife on the ground. The son took up for his mother and struck his father. Things settled down, and Sterling Esteppe, who had been drinking, announced he was going to bed. Dean, his mother and Hall went outside to look for a lens that had dropped out of Sterling Esteppe's eyeglasses. As they were walking back to the house, Sterling Esteppe came out with a .22 rifle at his side, saying, "Dean, I told you before, if you hit me again, I'm going to kill you." Sterling Esteppe then started shooting, and Dean Esteppe forced his mother to the ground and began running toward his father. Dean Esteppe was shot twice in the abdomen, twice in the face and once in the left arm. Dean Esteppe managed to get the gun from his father and hit him in the head with it, knocking him out. Dean Esteppe was listed in critical condition Friday at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.