Skylar Marie Marshall (San Luis Obispo County District Attorney)
A 26-year-old California woman who prosecutors said put a loaded gun to her husband’s forehead and pulled the trigger, not “100% sure” the weapon was loaded, was sentenced to seven years for involuntary manslaughter.
Skylar Marie Marshall was sentenced for the shooting death of her husband Alexander Hagist, 35, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney said in a news release.
Judge Jacquelyn Duffy ordered the sentence of seven years to be split — two years in county jail custody followed by five years of community supervision, officials said.
Marshall shot Hagist on July 16, 2020, in an apartment in California’s central coast city of San Luis Obispo, authorities said. The San Luis Obispo police responded to multiple reports of a single gunshot heard and a woman screaming and found Hagist dead, police said.
Marshall pointed a loaded semi-automatic handgun at Hagist’s forehead and pulled the trigger, killing him, evidence showed at a preliminary hearing on April 29, 2021, officials said.
“Marshall told San Luis Obispo police officers she thought the gun was unloaded but was not ‘100%’ sure when she pulled the trigger because she did not check the gun or magazine,” the news release said. “Testimony at the hearing revealed that Marshall had experience handling, loading, and shooting the gun and had previously been warned by her roommate and Mr. Hagist not to point the gun at others and to treat any gun as though it is loaded.”
After interviews, investigators determined Marshall was responsible, and she was arrested. Prosecutors initially charged Marshall with murder, but a judge dismissed the murder charge, which only allowed the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, authorities said.
Marshall pleaded no contest — the same as a guilty plea — to that charge in December, admitted that she used a handgun in the crime, and was found guilty, officials said.
Deputy District Attorney Crystal Seiler argued for Marshall to serve the entire seven-year sentence in custody, or if the court was to ‘split’ the sentence that Marshall do five years in custody followed by two years of mandatory supervision. In a pre-sentence report, the San Luis Obispo County Probation Department recommended Marshall serve seven years of custody, officials said.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Alex for their loss in this senseless and completely avoidable tragedy,” District Attorney Dan Dow said. “This case illustrates the devastating effects of irresponsible gun use. It is very simple. If you accept the responsibility of handling a firearm, you assume the legal and moral obligation to exercise the highest degree of care in its use.”
At the sentencing hearing, members of Hagist’s family described him as “an amazing father with the heart of a lion, infectious positive, upbeat personality, and beacon of light.”
The couple — who had been married for a year — had recently bought the gun and had jokingly pointed the gun, usually kept unloaded, at each other, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported, citing testimony from officers during the preliminary hearing.
William Gamble, Marshall’s attorney, said in an interview on Saturday with Law&Crime that his client was devastated and crying after the shooting.
“It was a stupid act to do,” he said. “It was clear she had absolutely no intention to harm him at all.
He said the sentence the judge gave was reasonable under the circumstances.
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