Sam Shelton and Ashley Reeves were making plans for their wedding when the tragedy happened.
In the end, Sam Shelton was found guilty of attempting to kill his own fiancé.
17-year-old Ashley Reeves was attacked by 26-year-old Shelton in April 2006. This is shown in the new Lifetime movie Left for Dead.
According to a CBS News story at the time, Reeves was found in a tree-lined park more than 30 hours after Shelton tried to strangle her with a belt and broke her neck with his arm. When the police found her, she was paralyzed and covered in mosquito bites.
Sam Shelton and Ashley Reeves wedding plans
Everyone was surprised that Sam Shelton and Ashley Reeves were planning to get married since they were so different in age.
Shelton allegedly tried to kill Ashley Reeves in 2006. She was frozen for 30 hours but still survived the assassination attempt.
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Sam Shelton did something to Ashley Reeves
The woman was led into a sexual relationship by Shelton, who taught at the college for women. She finally found him at the time of the attack and told him that she had to break up with him because they weren’t good for each other.
Shelton, on the other hand, didn’t want to let go. During that particular fight, which took place in the car, he grabbed Reeves and put her in a choke hold before dragging her outside. She tried for a while but finally gave up.
Before it broke, he choked the woman again, thinking she had given up. Then he let the woman die in a madhouse. She had terrible wounds and had been alone in the woods for 30 hours.
Police thought the woman escaped, but by the time they found her, she had moved away, so they took her to the hospital anyway.
Where’s Sam Shelton?
Sam Shelton was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years in prison. He had initially been jailed as a young suspect, but when police realized he was the most trusted person to speak to Reeves, they let him go.
After being told to wait 12 hours, he changed her story many times before giving up. He finally admitted that he had spoken about Ashley and insulted the woman.
Though he forgot the exact location, he led police to where he had left the woman. Officials were able to locate the woman and take her to a hospital. Reeves were found after they were caught.
He was allowed to post bail and was placed under house arrest for a year so he could prepare for the test. Sam only tried to kill himself once all year. In 2007, he agreed to plead guilty.
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Sam Shelton was a teacher, right?
Sam Shelton taught, that’s true. Sam tutored Ashley when she was in seventh grade. Sam was a professional wrestler and fitness trainer. People who knew them both said they spoke again in February 2006, two months after she went missing.
Sam Shelton and Ashley Reeves were planning to get married.
Sam Shelton and Ashley Reeves were discussing getting married before she was kidnapped.
Is Sam Shelton still in prison?
Sam Shelton was sentenced to 20 years in prison, so he’s still behind bars.
What did Sam Shelton do to Ashley Reeves?
Sam Shelton tried to kill Ashley Reeves, the woman he wanted to marry.
Sam Shelton said that trying to strangle a young girl and leaving her for dead was just a mistake. However, a jury did not believe him.
Left for Dead, a new Lifetime movie, is based on the true story of Ashley Reeves, who was attacked by Shelton, who was 26, in April 2006. CBS News reported at the time that she was found in a densely wooded park more than 30 hours after Shelton snapped Reeves’ neck with his forearm and tried to strangle her with a belt. She was paralyzed and covered in insect bites when investigators found her.
Anwen O’Driscoll stars in the Lifetime show Left for Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story, which begins June 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Photo: lifetime
Shelton went to town to celebrate the fact that he believed he killed Reeves. CBS News says he was caught on video line-dancing that night at a nearby country music club.
Shelton, who taught Reeves in middle school, courted the high school junior and got her into a relationship that was sexually abusive.
When Reeves didn’t return home by their 10 p.m. curfew, police quickly intervened to locate Shelton. Before he said what he was doing, the police questioned him for 12 hours. A judge later released video of that questioning to the public.
Shelton said he choked Reeves during an argument when she wouldn’t get out of his car. She said he attacked her when she tried to end the relationship because it was so bad. Shelton told police when he heard Reeves’ neck snap he became scared and tried to hide the fact that he had killed him. He then dragged her into the woods and tried to hide what he thought was her dead body.
In the end, he brought the police to the place where he left her and where, against all odds, she stayed alive.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2009 that Shelton attempted suicide by overdosing on antidepressants at his mother’s home. He had been released on bail while awaiting trial. When doctors and deputies came to the rescue, Shelton reportedly became violent, spitting on a deputy and kicking people who tried to help him.
“Emergency room staff told me there was something written on his chest with a marker that said ‘don’t save me’ or ‘don’t revive me’ or something like that,” Swansea Police Chief Steven Johnson told Crime in 2017 Watch Daily.
In 2007, Shelton admitted that he tried to kill Ashley Reeves. At the time, his family said they only agreed to the plea deal because they didn’t want “Sam to continue to be portrayed as a villain.”
“I just want to get on with my life and not worry,” Reeves told The Oklahoman after Shelton was sentenced and while she was going through a long process of learning to speak and walk again after her ordeal.
Shelton is still serving his 20-year sentence at Illinois’ Hill Correctional Center. In 2024 he will be able to be released from prison.
When Ashley Reeves disappeared in late April 2006, her parents were very confused. The 17-year-old wasn’t rebellious, and if she was late she always let someone know. As more and more calls and texts went unanswered, tension grew in Ashley’s home. When the phone company was called, it turned out that Ashley had spoken to Sam Shelton several times before disappearing.
Sam Shelton was known in the area as a driving instructor and physical education instructor. At first he seemed calm and helpful, but his ever-changing story showed he knew something about what happened to Reeves.
Sam Shelton eventually agreed to show the police where he left Ashley. But the rain in the area made it difficult for him to remember where he had left her. Police quickly searched the woods until they thought they found Ashley’s body.
Ashley was curled up in a ball, her tongue was sticking out, and bugs were feeding on her skin. Investigators were happy to see Ashley was still alive when her chest suddenly moved. She was quickly rushed to the hospital by paramedics, where doctors placed her in a coma to give her time to heal.
When Ashley went missing, police first spoke to Ashley’s friend Jeremy. She had been driving his car, but the police couldn’t find anything on Jeremy. Jeremy told police he gave Ashley his car so she could drive to a job interview and then to a basketball game.
Police found Jeremy’s car at Laderman Park in Belleville, Illinois. Ashley didn’t need to be there because there was a basketball park near her home. Ashley must have gone to Belleville to see someone because that was the only explanation that made sense.
Phone records showed Ashley had called Sam Shelton multiple times. Sam lived in Belleville, near Laderman Park, where police found Jeremy’s car. So the police brought Sam in to talk to him because he was a possible suspect.
He said that after an argument with Ashley, he choked her and pulled her out of his car. Ashley’s neck was snapped by the grip and she went limp. Sam then took her body into the woods and again strangled her with his hands.
Sam put a belt around her neck and tugged until it snapped when he saw that she was still breathing. Sam tried to kill Ashley three times and failed each time.
Due to the damage to her brain, Reeves could not remember what happened during the attack. She had to learn to walk, speak and swallow again. She now lives in Illinois with her two children and works as a caregiver.
Ashley went to where Sam left her for dead in a 2017 episode of Crime Watch Daily. Ashley said, “It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for so long and in such bad shape.” “It makes me think I could be as tough as everyone says I am. I’m a fighter and I always want to try harder.”
Surprisingly, a court released Sam on bail and ordered him to stay home. Sam tried to kill himself with pills and alcohol while awaiting his court date.
He wrote “Do not revive” on his chest to try to stop rescue workers from bringing him back to life. Paramedics didn’t listen to the message and woke Sam, who was angry and violent when he came to.
He spoke about her race and kicked her in the face in the hospital. The episode prompted the competent judge to rule that Sam’s mental health should be reviewed. Prosecutors said Sam pretended to have a mental illness to get the jury to feel sorry for him.
Sam passed a mental test and was found fit to stand trial. Sam, on the other hand, agreed to a 20-year sentence before his trial.
Susan, Shelton’s mother, told CBS News that the family “reluctantly” agreed to a plea bargain. They said Sam couldn’t get a fair trial because people kept saying bad things about him.
Reeve’s family also didn’t want him to speak in court. St. Clair County Attorney Robert Haida said Ashley needed to be left alone.
After the case was closed, Ashley felt relieved. She said, “I’m glad it’s over.” “I just want to live my life without worrying about it.”
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