Judge sentences Skylar Marie Marshall for involuntary manslaughter of her husband
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced Friday that Skylar Marie Marshall has been sentenced for the death of Alexander Hagist who was killed when Marshall shot him on Jul. 16, 2020.
At a preliminary hearing on Apr. 29, 2021, evidence was presented to the court that Marshall pointed a loaded semi-automatic handgun at Hagist's head and pulled the trigger, killing him at the couple's home on Chorro Street in San Luis Obispo.
Marshall told San Luis Obispo Police officers she thought the gun was unloaded but was not "one hundred percent" certain when she pulled the trigger.
Initially, the District Attorney charged Marshall with murder, but a Judge dismissed the murder charge which only allowed the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
On Dec. 28, 2022, Marshall entered a plea of no contest to the single remaining charge of manslaughter.
A no contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea, explains the District Attorney's Office, and the court found Marshall guilty of involuntary manslaughter with a gun.
At the time of the no contest plea, Judge Jacquelyn H. Duffy indicated she would sentence Marshall to no more than seven years. The maximum sentence allowed for the conviction was 14 years.
At Friday's sentencing hearing, Superior Court Judge Duffy imposed a sentence of seven years, but ordered that the sentence be split in two parts. The first, two years to be served in county jail custody and the second, a succeeding five years of community supervision.
Deputy District Attorney Crystal Seiler argued for Marshall to serve the entire seven-year sentence in custody, or in the event the court decided to split the sentence, that Marshall serve five years in custody followed by two years of mandatory supervision.
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.”
