Family upset with ‘back alley’ plea deal for suspect in O’Fallon woman’s death
The family of an O’Fallon wrestling coach is angry at St. Clair County prosecutors for approving what they call a “back alley” plea deal that could result in probation for a man who admitted causing her death.
The man, David S. Shovlin, now 51, went out with Allison Hartmire, 31, on a Saturday night in October 2023, witnessed her being seriously injured in an undisclosed way, failed to get her medical attention and dropped off her badly bruised body at Memorial Hospital in Shiloh early Monday morning, according to a coroner’s report and court records.
Hartmire’s mother and sister say they followed the wishes of authorities and kept quiet for two and a half years to avoid interfering with the investigation, believing it would lead to “justice.”
“It was hard to keep quiet because everybody was asking questions,” said her sister, Amanda Balzer, 39, who lives in Ohio.
Balzer said Hartmire was well known in the community as wrestling director for the O’Fallon Little Panthers sports club and, because she had epilepsy, many people mistakenly assumed she died of a seizure. Other rumors also were swirling around on Facebook.
The family’s silence ended this week, when Balzer and her husband, Kyle, and Hartmire’s mother, Tamela Gutierrez, who lives in New Jersey, drove to Belleville to attend a hearing in St. Clair County Circuit Court. They were outraged when Shovlin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice and immediately pleaded guilty.
A stipulation pertaining to plea negotiations states that Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Emmanuel agreed not to present the case to a grand jury or seek detention. He recommends the judge sentence Shovlin to no less than probation and no more than eight years in prison.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 26.
“I’m upset because I think it was first-degree murder, not involuntary manslaughter,” said Gutierrez, 59. “I don’t think that probation should be on the table for taking someone’s life. (Ali) had a lot of injuries. She had three skull fractures. He just let her lay there and die.”
Gutierrez said she had asked prosecutors to eliminate probation as an option, and they told her Shovlin rejected that change.
Neither Shovlin nor his Belleville attorney, Justin Kuehn, responded to requests for comment. Chris Allen, spokesman for State’s Attorney James Gomric’s office, declined comment on pending litigation.
Lt. Patrick Feldhake, spokesman for the O’Fallon Police Department, said Thursday that the circumstances of Hartmire’s death were unusual, the investigation was complicated and police consulted experts, reviewed reports and conducted many interviews.
When asked why the effort didn’t result in a first-degree-murder charge, Feldhake said all parties felt a plea agreement was the best way to resolve the case, and he “didn’t disagree with the outcome.”
“We’ve always supported the state’s attorney’s office,” he said. “We do the best we can to put investigations together, but they’re the ones who look at (the evidence) and determine criminality or what charges are most appropriate under the circumstances. They’re the ones who have to present it to a jury. They’re the experts.”
No treatment for brain injury
Involuntary manslaughter is a Class 3 felony. According to the charging document in Shovlin’s case, he witnessed Hartmire “encounter circumstances” that resulted in serious injury between Saturday and Monday, Oct. 21-23, 2023, took her to his house in O’Fallon and kept her in his bedroom without access to medical care for more than 20 hours “knowing she was non-verbal and unable to raise herself from the bed.”
Shovlin’s actions caused her death by delaying access to life-saving treatment for a “brain injury sustained from the back of her head striking a fixed surface,” the document states.
Obstruction of justice is a Class 4 felony. The charging document in Shovlin’s case states that he destroyed physical evidence by washing sheets that contained suspected bodily fluids from Hartmire.
“We still don’t really know what happened to Ali, how she passed,” Balzer said, noting that family members appreciated the work of police and prosecutors but always felt information was being withheld from them.
“It’s been very frustrating,” she said.
Balzer and Gutierrez said it wasn’t until Tuesday’s hearing that they learned Hartmire had called 911 on the Saturday night before her death, the call got disconnected, the 911 dispatcher called back, Shovlin answered the phone, and he told the dispatcher everything was OK.
Gutierrez said one thing authorities did share with the family was that Shovlin maintained that Hartmire was injured by falling out of a car.
Beyond the plea deal, Gutierrez is questioning why the case is being presided over by Circuit Judge John O’Gara, who disclosed at the hearing that he had once represented Shovlin as an attorney. O’Gara didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“That doesn’t seem right,” Gutierrez said.
Shovlin has a St. Clair County police record with more than 50 cases, mostly traffic violations, plus convictions for theft and driving under the influence of alcohol in 2001 and domestic battery in 2008 and 2013.
Allison Hartmire was the daughter of Tamela Gutierrez and Mario and Heather Gutierrez, according to her obituary. Her mother said she grew up in South Carolina and Ohio, met husband Paul Hartmire in Italy, moved to O’Fallon when he was stationed at Scott Air Force Base and had two children before the couple began divorce proceedings.
Hartmire volunteered as wrestling director for the O’Fallon Little Panthers, which posted the following on Instagram after her death:
“It is with a heavy heart that I send out this message. I was informed that our wrestling director, Ali Hartmire, passed away unexpectedly last night. Please keep her kids along with all of her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate through this difficult time. She was a great wrestling director and definitely will be missed.”
Met through Little Panthers
Hartmire met Shovlin, a fellow wrestling parent, through the Little Panthers and began hanging out with him as a friend, but he wanted to be her boyfriend, Tamela Gutierrez said.
Here is what Hartmire’s family has pieced together about events leading up to her death, based on discussions with police and prosecutors and information presented at Tuesday’s hearing:
- Hartmire and Shovlin watched a football game on TV together on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, then went out for the evening. Her children were with their father.
- At some point, Hartmire was seriously injured.
- At some point, a call was made to 911 from her phone.
- Shovlin took Hartmire to his house on Joy Drive in O’Fallon and put her in bed.
- Shovlin knew Hartmire’s husband was supposed to drop off their children at her house on Shadow Ridge Crossing on Sunday.
- Shovlin picked up the children and brought them back to his house before they went to a football game, leaving Hartmire in bed.
- Gutierrez and other family members became worried when they could not reach Hartmire.
- Gutierrez contacted Shovlin, who told her Hartmire was sleeping after drinking too much on Saturday night and that she had been having seizures and vomiting.
- Paul Hartmire called police for a welfare check on the family.
- O’Fallon officers knocked on Shovlin’s door, talked to him, saw the children watching TV through a window and left.
“I don’t know why the police department didn’t talk to the kids,” Gutierrez said, guessing they would have told officers they were worried about their mother being unconscious in the bedroom.
The story picks back up about 2:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, when Shovlin took Allison Hartmire to Memorial Hospital in Shiloh, according to a case report written by St. Clair County Deputy Coroner Tom Boyd.
Shovlin reportedly asked for hospital personnel to help him get Hartmire out of his vehicle and into a wheelchair before driving away, telling them he had to go home to take care of the children.
Hartmire was already dead, her mother said.
“The ER staff told me that once they observed Hartmire, they found her to be blue in color with no signs of life,” Boyd wrote in his report. “ER staff observed the bruising on her body and told security that this was suspicious. Security notified the Shiloh Police.”
An autopsy was performed at a regional facility in Bloomington. The report listed Hartmire’s cause of death as head injury due to “blunt trauma.” It also described bruises and abrasions all over her body.
A toxicology report later showed two substances in Hartmire’s system: Lacosamide, a medication used to treat seizures; and naloxone, an emergency medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.
Hartmire’s family plans to attend the sentencing hearing on Aug. 26 and make victim-impact statements. In the meantime, they vow to keep asking questions about the circumstances of her death.
“We want her story to be told,” Balzer said. “It’s important for us, and it’s important for the community.”
