Police: Man accused of running over wife at SLC airport appeared to be drunk

UPDATE: SALT LAKE CITY — A woman has died after she was run over by a car being driven by her husband, according to police. Charlotte Sturgeon was taken to a hospital and has since died from her injuries.

UPDATED STORY FOLLOWS:

A 38-year-old man accused of running over his wife in a Salt Lake City International Airport parking garage appeared drunk, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Police say Shawn Christopher Sturgeon was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on a second-degree felony charge of automobile homicide — criminal negligence DUI of alcohol/drugs.

Close relatives of Charlotte Sturgeon who did not wish to be identified spoke to KSL and said, “I believe it was an accident.”

Other close family members are heading to Utah from out of state and said the couple was at a family wedding in Texas before the trip back to Utah.

“Everything was fine. No problems, no issues,” a close family member told KSL.

Officers responded to the second level of the airport’s short-term parking garage Monday afternoon and found 29-year-old Charlotte Sturgeon, Shawn Sturgeon’s wife, suffering from critical injuries. According to court documents, the Sturgeons and their small child had recently returned from a vacation and went to pick up their vehicle.

Officers said surveillance video shows Shawn Sturgeon placing the child in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle before he gets behind the wheel, and the vehicle’s brake lights turn on.

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

Charlotte Sturgeon, according to police, was standing in the open rear passenger door when her husband begins to reverse the vehicle.

“The victim’s legs can be seen flailing about as he continues to reverse, being dragged, which causes her to fall to the ground under the vehicle,” police said.

Officers allege Shawn Sturgeon then drove forward, running over his wife with the rear passenger tire and driving 10 feet before stopping.

Shawn Sturgeon then walked his wife to the vehicle and put her into the passenger seat before police said he drove to “the airport parking payment booths where he asked for help.”

Charlotte Sturgeon was transported to an area hospital where she died, “despite lifesaving efforts being performed on scene at the airport and at the hospital,” a statement from the Salt Lake City Police Department read.

Officers on scene said Shawn Sturgeon “appeared to be under the influence of alcohol as evidenced by the odor coming from his mouth and glassy bloodshot eyes.”

According to court documents, the officer who transported Sturgeon to the city’s public safety building said the patrol car smelled strongly of alcohol and Shawn Sturgeon “made several spontaneous utterances that he ‘ran my wife over,’ ‘killed my wife’ and ‘I accidentally ran her over.'”

Airport operations were not impacted, according to SLCPD public information officer Brent Weisberg, adding that flights continued to come in and out of the airport.

Police say this was the third homicide in Salt Lake City this year.