UPDATE: Sam Shelton,Ex-Teacher Guilty of Trying to Kill Teen
tinydancer
By JIM SUHR
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A former teacher who left a teenager for dead after
snapping her neck pleaded guilty to attempted murder Friday, and the victim
said she didn't expect an apology.
``I'm glad it's over with,'' said Ashley Reeves, who continues to undergo
rehabilitation from the broken neck and other injuries she suffered in April
2006. She wasn't paralyzed but had to learn how to swallow, talk and move
her head and arms again.
``I just want to continue with my life and not worry about it,'' she said.
Reeves, 18, graduated from high school last month and plans to go to
college.
Samson Shelton, 27, declined to address the court before he was sentenced to
20 years in prison for attempted first-degree murder.
Reeves' family signed off on the sentence and the plea deal.
``Ashley needed to have some peace,'' St. Clair County State's Attorney
Robert Haida said, noting the plea deal spares her from having to testify.
Shelton's mother, Susan, said the family ``reluctantly'' settled for the
deal, insisting he would not have gotten a fair trail because of ``the
continuing demonization of Sam.''
Officials have said Shelton once taught at a middle school Reeves attended.
At the time of the attack, Shelton taught driver's education and physical
education at a high school, but not the one Reeves attended.
Shelton told authorities that he and Reeves had sex once and he was trying
to break off the relationship while driving April 27, 2006. He unbuckled her
seat belt and tried to eject her from the car because she became unruly,
according to Shelton's videotaped statement.
Shelton said he heard her neck pop and her body went limp. He drove to a
city park and carried her into a wooded area ``to make it look like she got
strangled there.'' He said he tightened his belt around her neck, then heard
a gurgle followed by nothing. She was found 30 hours later, clinging to
life.
Authorities say Shelton choked Reeves with a belt and injured her neck with
his forearm so severely her neck was broken.
Shelton's plea came after a judge accepted a psychiatrist's assessment that
Shelton was mentally fit. His competence was questioned after an apparent
suicide attempt last month.
Authorities say he was combative with sheriff's deputies and ambulance crew
who tried to help him after the prescription drug overdose. He pleaded not
guilty to six felony battery charges that are pending.
mo...@az.com
paralyzed. She must be both really lucky and very strong. Thanks for
the update!
On Jun 15, 8:35 pm, "tinydancer" <tinydancer...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Ex-Teacher Guilty of Trying to Kill Teen
> By JIM SUHR
>
> BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A former teacher who left a teenager for dead after
> snapping her neck pleaded guilty to attempted murder Friday, and the victim
> said she didn't expect an apology.
>
> ``I'm glad it's over with,'' said Ashley Reeves, who continues to undergo
> rehabilitation from the broken neck and other injuries she suffered in April
> 2006. She wasn't paralyzed but had to learn how to swallow, talk and move
> her head and arms again.
<snip>
> http://gatewaynet.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-us-1...
Indigo Ace
BY LISA P. WHITE
News-Democrat
BELLEVILLE --
Former Freeburg teacher and pro wrestler Samson "Sam" Shelton was
sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to trying
to kill teenager Ashley Reeves.
After entering his guilty plea, Shelton declined to address the court,
Reeves or her parents, who were sitting in the last row in the
courtroom.
"I'm glad it's over with," Reeves said. "I can get on with my life."
Reeves said she believes the sentence was fair. Asked whether she was
surprised Shelton did not apologize, she said, "No, I wasn't. I didn't
expect him to."
Reeves is 18 and said she plans to go to college. While she is still
in therapy two days per week, her speech and walking have steadily
improved since April 29, 2006, when police found her unconscious and
barely breathing in the undergrowth of a Belleville park.
"I'm just hoping to keep getting better," she said.
Shelton is now 27 and would be 44 were he to get out after serving at
least 85 percent of this sentence. Credit for good behavior will put
him out of prison in 17 years, to be followed by three years of
mandatory supervised release.
"He's saved himself a great deal of his life to be a free man,"
Shelton's attorney Clyde Kuehn said.
Yet his time behind bars could still increase. The plea deal on Friday
does not cover the charges that Shelton attacked deputies and medical
workers after he tried to commit suicide May 8.
Kuehn said media attention in the case and the videotapes of Shelton's
police interrogation, during which he confessed to assaulting Reeves
before leading them to her nearly lifeless body, would have made it
nearly impossible to win an acquittal in a jury trial. Shelton was a
high school teacher who claimed he attacked Reeves after trying to end
his relationship with the then-17-year-old girl.
St. Clair County State's Attorney Robert Haida said his office agreed
to the plea bargain, in part, so that Reeves can get on with her life.
He called the sentence appropriate and significant.
"Ashley needed to have some peace," Haida said.
Haida said the plea agreement "gives us a substantial sentence and
sends a message that when individuals do serious harm to innocent
victims, they are going to do serious time."
"It's an appropriate sentence, it's a significant sentence."
A bearded Shelton appeared before St. Clair County Circuit Judge
Milton Wharton wearing an orange St. Clair County jail jumpsuit in
handcuffs and leg shackles.
Wharton read the attempted first-degree murder charge against Shelton
including that he "knowingly placed a belt around the neck of Ashley
Reeves and repeatedly strangled Ashley Reeves."
If convicted by a jury, Shelton could have received a sentence of
between six and 30 years and a $25,000 fine, Wharton said.
Shelton responded in a clear, strong voice each time Wharton asked him
a question.
Ashley Reeves' mother, Michelle Reeves, thanked police, prosecutors
and others for their help.
"We'd just kind of like to go back to a simple, quiet life," she said.
Susan Shelton, Sam Shelton's mother, said the media's "demonization"
of her son made it clear he could not have received a fair trial.
"Sam's family and friends know the incident with Miss Reeves was an
accident, but we reluctantly support Sam's decision to plead guilty,"
she said, reading a prepared statement.
She added, "I realize that he hurt her, he thought she was dead and he
tried to cover that up." But she contended that Shelton's actions did
not constitute attempted murder.
When asked whether she was disappointed her son did not apologize,
Susan Shelton said, "Not in this case. No."
Susan Shelton also criticized the St. Clair County Sheriff's
Department, claiming deputies took credit for saving her son's life
during a suicide attempt at their home last month.
"That is not true. They Tasered him time after time. He couldn't stand
up. He couldn't reason on his own," she said.
Haida said Shelton was shocked with a Taser, but the deputies were
justified in using the weapon to disable him because he was combative.
Shelton entered his guilty plea after the prosecution and the defense
accepted psychologist Dan Cuneo's finding that Shelton was mentally
fit to stand trial.
Kuehn, who had asked the court to include a determination of Shelton's
sanity during the attack on Reeves, dropped his request in light of
the plea agreement. Kuehn said he approached prosecutors about a plea
deal after Shelton's suicide attempt.
"I think he's strangely at peace to have it over with," Kuehn said in
describing Shelton's state of mind. "His demeanor since he's made the
decision has been one of complete acceptance, and you don't usually
see that. People who (plead guilty) usually go away whining."
Shelton also pleaded not guilty to aggravated battery charges pending
against him. Prosecutors said he attacked deputies and medical
technicians who tried to revive him May 8 after the suicide attempt.
He is accused of kicking a St. Elizabeth's Hospital nurse in the face
and spitting on a deputy who was guarding him after the suicide
attempt. He has been charged with six felony counts of aggravated
assault in connection with the attacks, which each could carry
sentences of two to five years.
Haida said his office will prosecute Shelton on the felony charges,
and if convicted, Shelton will serve those sentences after completing
the attempted murder sentence.
"We can defend those," Kuehn said. "Most of that conduct took place
when he was being saved from an overdose of drugs."
Shelton will not remain in the county jail to face the assault
charges, Haida said. He soon will be sent to Chester, where the state
prison system intake facility is located for this area. There he will
be evaluated to determine whether he belongs in the general prison
population or whether his mental state warrants other care.
There was one surprising moment during the 35-minute proceeding
Friday. When Wharton asked whether anyone had tried to threaten or
intimidate him into pleading guilty, Shelton said Michelle Reeves'
sister had threatened his neighbor. But Shelton apparently misheard
the judge and when asked again, he said no one had tried to coerce him
into accepting a plea.
Deputies found Reeves in the early hours of April 29, 2006, in dense
underbrush at Citizens Park in Belleville. She was flown in critical
condition to a St. Louis hospital and is still undergoing
rehabilitative therapy at home.
In a videotaped statement given to police, Shelton eventually
confessed to assaulting Reeves, then led investigators to where he hid
the unconscious Reeves in the park. Shelton told Sheriff's Lt. Steve
Johnson that he argued with Reeves.
During a struggle as he tried to pull her out of his car, he said he
heard her neck pop. He said he then took her to the park, and
attempted to strangle her three times.
Contact reporter Lisa P. White at lwhite;@bnd.com or 239-2460.
http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/59937.html
--
Anne, indigoace at goodsol period com
Jewelry: http://www.prettygoodjewelry.com
Cats: http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Indigo Ace
Shelton case timeline
April 27, 2006: Ashley Reeves, 17, of Millstadt, is reported missing
by her family. Freeburg High teacher and pro wrestler Samson "Sam"
Shelton later says he was trying to break off a relationship, she
became unruly and her neck popped during a struggle. He strangled her
three times with a belt, took her to Citizens Park and dumped her in
the woods.
April 29, 2006: Shelton leads investigators to Reeves' body about 2
a.m. in dense underbrush. Officers think she is dead, then notice her
barely breathing. She is unable to speak and covered with insect
bites, but flown in critical condition to a St. Louis hospital.
Shelton is charged with attempted first-degree murder and held on $1
million bond.
May 15, 2006: Shelton is freed after a judge reduces his bond to
$800,000. He is placed on electronic monitoring and confined to his
home.
May 23, 2006: Reeves, who suffered a brain injury in the attack, is
released from the hospital to a rehabilitation center in St. Louis
County.
June 22, 2006: Reeves returns home.
June 23, 2006: St. Clair County grand jury indicts Shelton on an
attempted murder charge. If convicted, Shelton could face a 60-year
prison sentence.
July 7, 2006: Shelton pleads not guilty.
Feb. 23: Circuit Judge Milton Wharton agrees to a venue change for
Shelton's trial after a defense attorney said his client had become "a
pariah."
May 8: Shelton tries to kill himself by overdosing on prescription
drugs and turns combative with emergency workers. Prosecutors later
charge him with aggravated battery and six felony counts of aggravated
assault that state he attacked deputies and medical technicians,
kicked a nurse in the face and spit on a deputy guarding him.
May 9: Shelton's bond is revoked and he is sent back to jail in his
hospital gown.
May 16: Wharton orders Shelton to remain jailed and undergo mental
tests to see whether he can face trial.
May 20: Reeves graduates from Columbia High School.
June 15: Shelton pleads guilty to attempted first-degree murder and is
sentenced to 20 years. He still faces charges of attacking emergency
workers.
http://www.bnd.com/233/story/59967.html
mo...@az.com
> Here's more, from the Belleville [IL] News-Democrat--
>
> of her son made it clear he could not have received a fair trial.
>
> "Sam's family and friends know the incident with Miss Reeves was an
> accident, but we reluctantly support Sam's decision to plead guilty,"
> she said, reading a prepared statement.
>
> She added, "I realize that he hurt her, he thought she was dead and he
> tried to cover that up." But she contended that Shelton's actions did
> not constitute attempted murder.
>
> When asked whether she was disappointed her son did not apologize,
> Susan Shelton said, "Not in this case. No."
>
> During a struggle as he tried to pull her out of his car, he said he
> heard her neck pop. He said he then took her to the park, and
> attempted to strangle her three times.
OK. I wasn't there, so I don't know if he tried to kill her from the
beginning, or if there was a struggle and her neck went "pop," like he
claims. Maybe she threatened to tell about their relationship so he
tried to kill her to silence her. Maybe he said "I don't care what you
do, just get out of my car!" and then strugglestruggle, POP, uh-oh.
But he admits that he then strangled her three times with his belt,
which means he knew she was still alive after the POP. You don't try
to strangle a dead body three times. He admits that he left her alone,
hidden away from where someone might easily find her. That is
attempted murder. At that point, the only thing he cared about was
covering up the relationship. He was worried about losing his job and
career and the respect of friends and family.
So tell me, mom of the almost-murderer, how can you call that an
accident? You don't think your son owes his victim an apology for
strangling her with his belt? Putting his belt around her neck was NOT
an accident, he did that on purpose. Walking away from her helpless
hidden body was not an accident, he did that on purpose.
