Teacher charged with attempted murder of teen

Freeburg High teacher charged with attempted murder of teen
By Leah Thorsen
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Apr. 29 2006

A Freeburg High School driver's education instructor and assistant
baseball
coach tried to kill a 17-year-old girl by strangling her with a belt
and
leaving her critically injured in a park, authorities said today.

St. Clair County prosecutors this morning charged Sam Shelton, 26, of
Smithton, with two counts of attempted murder and one count of
aggravated
kidnapping.

At 2 a.m. today, authorities found Ashley Reeves in a heavily wooded
area in
Citizens Park in Belleville. The trees were so dense that emergency
crews had
to cut through the brush with chainsaws to get a stretcher into the
area to
carry her out, said Lt. Steven Johnson.

She had been left in the woods for more than 30 hours, and was in
critical
condition this afternoon at a St. Louis hospital.

Shelton and the girl had a relationship, but authorities refused to
describe
the nature of their relationship or confirm reports that he had become
upset
when she tried to end the relationship.

They also would not say how the two met, or how long they had been in a
relationship. Ashley did not know him through driver's education, they
said.

Court documents say Shelton tried to break Ashley's neck with his
forearm and
strangled her with a belt. Authorities have seized Shelton's Ford
Mustang to
process for evidence.

Ashley, who lives in Millstadt and attends Columbia High School, had
been
missing since 3 p.m. Thursday, when she was seen driving her
boyfriend's Jeep.
She told her parents she was going to a job interview, although
authorities
today said they had not been able to confirm whether she actually
intended to
go to an interview.

The Jeep was found Thursday night in Laderman Park in Belleville.

Shelton remains in the St. Clair County Jail in Belleville in lieu of
$1
million bail.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/409D6D39F52789818625715F00634F5F?OpenDocument

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