Man charged with auto homicide in connection to wife’s death at Salt Lake airport

SALT LAKE CITY – The man accused of running over his wife in the parking area of the Salt Lake City airport earlier this month has now been formally charged with manslaughter, criminal/automobile homicide, and domestic violence in the presence of a child, all felonies.

Court documents alleged Shawn Christopher Sturgeon, 38, was drunk when the incident happened on April 4. Their small child was in the back seat of the vehicle.

Officers responded to the second level of the airport’s short-term parking garage around 2:30 in the afternoon and found 29-year-old Charlotte Sturgeon suffering from critical injuries.

They just returned from a vacation.

“When officers arrived on scene, they found Charlotte located in the front seat of a vehicle near the toll area. She was non-responsive but breathing. Charlotte was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced deceased,” the documents state.

Police: Woman dies after husband runs her over at SLC airport

Police spoke to several witnesses and watched video of the incident from airport security cameras.

According to the document, one witness told officers that Shawn Sturgeon was angry at his wife and yelled at her inside and outside of the terminal.

THE AIRPORT VIDEO

The document said police watched the surveillance video and saw Shawn Sturgeon put the child in the passenger rear seat.

“Charlotte appeared to be sitting in the front passenger seat and then is seen exiting the vehicle. She walked to the rear passenger side seat of the vehicle and opened the door as Sturgeon started to reverse the vehicle. He abruptly sped up and then stopped the car,” court documents state. The document said Charlotte Sturgeon lost her balance while the vehicle door was still open.

“Within seconds, Sturgeon again hit the accelerator and quickly moved backwards. Charlotte Sturgeon’s legs could be seen flailing about as Shawn Sturgeon continued to reverse. Being dragged caused Charlotte to fall to the ground under the vehicle. Sturgeon then put the vehicle in drive, accelerated quickly forward, and pushed the accelerator and quickly over Charlotte’s body.”

The document said the right rear passenger tire left an imprint on her body and the heavy vehicle seriously injured her internal organs. Preliminary autopsy results determined that Charlotte Sturgeon’s cause of death was blunt force trauma. The incident severed her pulmonary artery and lacerated her liver.

WITNESS STATEMENTS

One of the witnesses told officers she was getting ready to leave the parking lot when she heard a loud noise.

“She turned around and saw a lady on the ground and observed the car go over her. As the lady was on the ground, she heard her yelling and screaming,” documents state.

The witness got out of her car to check on the lady.

“The male driver then got out of the car and asked the female (Charlotte Sturgeon) why she just did that. The male then said, ‘Now I have to take you to the emergency room,’ and then aggressively picked her up and pushed her towards the front passenger seat,” documents state.

Another witness told police that she saw a woman lying on the ground and then observed a vehicle run over the body. The document said that witness “heard crying and moaning from the woman. The driver came to a screeching stop, and then got out of the car yelling at the woman saying, ‘Are you f*****g crazy,’ and continued screaming at the woman.”

The witness also said Shawn Sturgeon told his wife, “Get the f**k up right now. Get off the ground and get in the car.” The witness said Charlotte Sturgeon got up and limped to the vehicle and the vehicle drove away.

The document said the video also showed Shawn Sturgeon exit the vehicle while yelling and flailing his arms and told Charlotte Sturgeon to get in the vehicle which she did shortly before succumbing to her wounds.

Responding officers said Shawn Sturgeon appeared to be under the influence with the odor of alcohol coming from his mouth and he had glassy bloodshot eyes, according to the document.

Also in the document, the officer who drove Shawn Sturgeon to the public safety building said he heard him say “I ran my wife over”, ” I killed my wife,” and “I accidentally ran her over”.

Shawn Sturgeon reportedly had a .13 blood alcohol level following a preliminary toxicology screen.

The court document said he had a previous conviction for DUI in another state.