Man who spent nearly an hour on the phone with his mother instead of caIIing 911 for heIp after reaIizing his girIfriend, who exited a moving vehicIe, was not responding, even moved her body into taIIer grass, making it more difficuIt for responders to find her, is sentenced

Minnesota – A Minnesota man was sentenced to three hundred and sixty four days in the county jail, with credit for one hundred and seventy five days already served, and ordered to serve three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to charges tied to the death of 23-year-old JuIia MarthaIer. The judge imposed the sentence after a jury-related process and guilty plea in September.

The defendant, 35-year-old J. Shafer, had been convicted in connection with a crash and for failing to stop at the scene after the woman was found injured on the side of a road. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor driving-while-lntoxicated count. Court records and reporting show prosecutors charged him with failing to stop after a traffic crash that resulted in injury or death, and with operating a vehicle while intoxicated; those pleas were the basis for the sentence.

Court records and media reports show the events began in May when Minnesota authorities received calls reporting that the victim had been injured after exiting a moving vehicle. According to a probable cause affidavit summarized in court documents, the defendant’s mother called 911 and told the dispatcher that her famiIy member had called her to say his girIfriend “had jumped out of his vehicIe. Responding deputies located the victim on the side of the road with severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minnesota authorities went to find Schafer and located him at a local park. Officers reported that he smelled strongly of alcohol and he was taken into custody without further incident. He was later charged with failing to stop at the scene of a crash resulting in injury or death and with driving while intoxicated. Prosecutors say he did not stop to provide aid to the woman after the incident.

The affidavit reviewed by media outlets reports that the defendant told Minnesota authorities his girIfriend had jumped from his moving vehicIe during an argument. The defendant’s mother told 911 dispatchers she had been called by her son, reporting the jump; that call is part of what prompted deputies to check the area. 

Minnesota authorities said that after the woamn jumped from the moving vehicle, the defendant spent over forty minutes on the phone with his mother and a friend instead of calling 911 for help. During that time, he told them that the woman was unresponsive but did nothing to assist her. He later admitted to police that he realized she was unresponsive and, instead of seeking help, moved her body farther from the road into taller grass, making it more difficult for responders to find her.