IL - Girl, 17, strangled, left for dead, Belleville, 27 April 2006

I saw this right before I went to bed last night - that the girl was missing and on this cool rainy morning decided to bake a little and didn't turn any media on till now - and the girl was found (alive, thankfully, although she has a broken neck so she needs a lot of prayers and healing energy sent her way!) and they already have a suspect - a coach at her school!!!!






Freeburg High School assistant coach charged in attempted murder, abduction of Millstadt girl

News-Democrat

After lying 30 hours in dense woods in Citizens Park in Belleville, a 17-year-old critically injured girl was found at 2 a.m. Saturday and rushed to a St. Louis Hospital.

St. Clair County Sheriff Mearl Justus said Ashley Reeves, of Millstadt, is in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital. Reeves suffered a broken neck in the attack, according to charges filed Saturday.

Samson R. Shelton, 26, a driver's education teacher and assistant baseball coach at Freeburg High School, is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.

He is being held at the County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

Investigator Steve Johnson said that when Reeves was discovered in Citizen's Park across from Valhalla Cemetery, chainsaws had to be used to clear a path for ambulance personnel carrying a stretcher.

Through information stemming from their probe, sheriff's investigators Mike Hundelt and Dan Stockett located Reeves, who is believed to have been at the area where she was found for at least 30 hours. Johnson said that as the victim was being evacuated, he did not know whether she was alive or dead.

According to the charges, Shelton "knowingly used his forearm with such force as to break the neck of Ashley Reeves..." and "knowingly used his belt to strangle Ashley Reeves."

Two vehicles have been recovered and are being tested for evidence.

Justus said that the suspect had a "relationship" with the victim, but would not elaborate.

Ashley Reeves was last seen when she left her home about 3:30 p.m. Thursday for a job interview in Belleville. Her parents reported her missing late Thursday.

A sheriff's deputy found the car she was last seen in at Laderman Park in Belleville at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.



http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/14456963.htm

I wonder if he broke it off with him, and he tried to kill her for it. The article said that they had a "relationship," but they wouldn't elaborate as to what that meant.

I think he left her for dead. I hope they fry him!

The relationship could have just been teacher/student.

Crisis team to help teens cope with attack

The Monroe County Student Crisis Assistance team will be activated today to help teens at Columbia High School cope with the attempted murder of junior Ashley Reeves, 17.

Samson "Sam" Shelton, 26, a pro wrestler and teacher at Freeburg High School, is charged with breaking her neck and then using his belt in an attempt to strangle Reeves before dumping her Thursday at Citizens Park in Belleville.

Police found Reeves about 2 a.m. Saturday -- more than 30 hours after she was last seen -- in the brush behind a baseball diamond at Citizens Park. She was listed in serious condition at a St. Louis hospital on Sunday. Her parents couldn't be reached for comment Sunday.

more here

Oh my, this poor girl.. I hope she recovers and that this so-called teacher is locked up for good!

http://crime.about.com/b/a/256911.htm

Missing Iowa Teen Found, Teacher Faces Charges

A 17-year-old Iowa high school junior, who was left to die in woods so thick rescue workers had to use chain saws to get a stretcher to her, was found alive 30 hours after she disappeared and a teacher at her former high school has been charged with her attempted murder.

Ashley Reeves, a student at Columbia High School, was found at 2 a.m. Saturday in a heavily wooded area in critical condition. Freeburg High School teacher, Samson Shelton, 26, was chargedwith two counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping.

Police said Shelton tried to strangle the girl and used his forearm to try to break her neck. Family members said she is expected to survive her injuries, but may have suffered brain damage.

~more at link~

Missing teen found, teacher charged in murder attempt

BELLEVILLE, Ill. --- A Freeburg High School teacher charged with trying to murder Ashley Reeves, 17, apparently had been seeing her for two months, a friend of Reeves' said Saturday.

Reeves was very secretive about the relationship, Kristi Baumgartner said, and
would only say that she had befriended a guy named Sam.

and

A profile of Shelton on the Web site for his fast-pitch softball team says:

"Sammy is single and currently looking for a female companion. This may include long term or short term relationship. Age does not matter, must be cute or hot."

The profile also said his hobbies include "touching hookers" and *advertiser censored*,
and described his occupation as a "teacher, pimp, pimp teacher, pro-wrestler."

Shelton's mother, Susan Shelton, declined to comment.

~much more at link~

his myspace:


http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=40858858


what a sick puppy

What a wide range of interests; badmiton, line dancing, touching hookers . I get the impression anymore that they will let any sicko be a teacher. I guess thats not a faw assumption b/c there are many good teachers who don't manipulate their students into sexual relationships.
I really hope Ashley makes a full recovery without any brain damage.

I looked at the myspace of his. Some of the comments I saw from students I didnt think were appropriate at all, also ones he left for them. This one girl one comment he made said, "you are one sexy "...yuck yuck yuck. It takes something drastic for anyone to really see a monster/predator, when it comes to teens I guess . I remember in highschool other students thinking it was funny when the coach flirted with them and made comments about how sexy they looked. And wouldnt you know that these coaches ended up in somewhat of a scandal a few years later. Im just thinking about how teenagers dont see how wrong it is for teachers to have these types of relationships with students. Im just really sick of hearing about teachers preying on students....it makes me so sick!

I notice his myspace.com site has a timer for "Countdown To Vegas".

It is now at 24 days.

I doubt he will be able to make that Vegas trip! :doh:

He is disgusting!

This man needs to go to jail a long, long time......What a sicko!!!!

A.Wood said:

I looked at the myspace of his. Some of the comments I saw from students I didnt think were appropriate at all, also ones he left for them. This one girl one comment he made said, "you are one sexy "...yuck yuck yuck. It takes something drastic for anyone to really see a monster/predator, when it comes to teens I guess . I remember in highschool other students thinking it was funny when the coach flirted with them and made comments about how sexy they looked. And wouldnt you know that these coaches ended up in somewhat of a scandal a few years later. Im just thinking about how teenagers dont see how wrong it is for teachers to have these types of relationships with students. Im just really sick of hearing about teachers preying on students....it makes me so sick!

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I think some teenage girls think its cute b/c they are seeking approval or they just feel special when someone older thinks they are worthwhile. It is inappropriate for him to communicate on myspace with his students period, I don't care what they are talking about. Maybe the girls thought it was creepy but were scared to say anything. Or it might have been a big joke to them, laughing at the perv teacher. When I was in highschool we had a teacher like that, he got fired after a year but he was just creepy. He was only 26 or 27 like this guy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/03/national/main1576002.shtml

This guy needs to get the chair!

the creep left her for dead and then went DANCING!! :behindbar

PrayersForMaura said:

the creep left her for dead and then went DANCING!! :behindbar

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Can you even imagine :furious: On the news tonight it said that the coach showed LE where to find her. It also said that the two would play ball together and they figured she went to her job interview and then ended up playing ball with him. He told LE that he broke her neck with the hold he had on it while he was trying to get her out of the car. I wonder if he was going to rape her and she was trying not to get out of the car and he was trying to force her to get out.

When they talked to the kids at the school the boys said that they thought the coach was cool and some of the girls thought that he acted strange.

I wonder if the coach read more into the relationship then the girl did...if he wanted more out of it then she planned to give. I hope he can't make bail and is in jail until he goes to trial.

I hope that he didn't cause brain damage when he strangled her with his belt.
Hopfully she will mend from the broken neck and not suffer any consequesces.
Poor little thing to go through an ordeal like that and then be left for dead. Thank God she is alive. The family asked for lots of prayer and said that her healing is going to be a long ordeal. I just hope she will be alright.

What a sick individual. I wonder if those other girls think he's "sexy" now. Hopefully they'll re-evaluate their thinking so we don't have to hear about another case like this.

I'm going to try to find a link, but I live in this area and heard this guys "friend" on the radio stating that Shelton didn't write the MySpace stuff..this friend of his did and that it was all a joke and taken out of context....please I'd like to see that friend investigated too.

There is a little bit of new information in this article.


The attorney for Samson R. Shelton, the teacher and part-time professional wrestler accused of breaking his one-time student's neck and leaving her for dead, said Wednesday that his client planned to fight the accusations against him.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...FB0C9AC5A57D3FD08625716400161DBD?OpenDocument