A first degree murder charge against a Wellston man accused of shooting to death a 21-year-old last July 5 was dismissed by District Attorney Allan Grubb’s office on Tuesday.
During a hearing Tuesday morning before District Judge Cindy Ashwood, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Mixon moved to dismiss the case. The case had been scheduled to go to jury trial June 6.
The judge ordered the case dismissed without prejudice and the costs also were dismissed.
That means the first degree murder case could be filed again by a different prosecutor at a future date.
Seamster, at the time 38, was accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Lucas Goss with a firearm in Lincoln County on July 5 last summer.
Seamster claimed he shot Goss in self-defense.
He was formally charged in Lincoln County District Court on July 12.
The family of the victim has expressed outrage at Grubb’s decision.
Andrea Vanderpool, fiance of the victim, after learning that the charges were going to be dismissed, asked, “Why are we not allowed our day in court? Lucas deserves that. All we want is our day in court,” she noted.
“He (Grubb) called Lucas’s mother Zina on the phone and told he was going to dismiss the charge against Seamster. The reason he gave, is he’s under an obligation that if he can’t get a conviction he should dismiss the case. It was kind of a shocker,” Vanderpool said.
Vanderpool said she was sitting right next to Zina when Grubb called her. She stated that Grubb called her on May 18 informing her of his decision.
“At least take it to trial. That monster was on our property,” Vanderpool commented.
She pointed out, “Lucas and I were going to get married, we were going to have a kid. Everything has been ripped away from us.”
Vanderpool stated, “Lucas was autistic.”
In talking about the day Lucas died, July 5, 2021, she said, “I wished to God I’d been out there. When I opened the back door, Freddie (Seamster) was on our property coming towards the house. He was on our property after he shot Lucas,” Vanderpool claimed.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer, who headed up the investigation, attended the court hearing on Tuesday.
He said, “The DA presented a motion to dismiss with prejudice, meaning it would be closed.
“Judge Ashwood did not accept that motion and instead accepted a dismissal without prejudice.”
Grubb, asked for a statement on why he dismissed the charge, sent a copy to this reporter of the motion he filed.
Among but not all the reasons he listed were Goss threatened to slit Seamster’s throat that day; three days prior to the shooting, Goss had attacked another neighbor with a metal sword who was riding on a lawn mower; and the Medical Examiner testified that Goss’s wounds were not only consistent with being in a swinging position but testified it was probable Goss was in a swinging position when shot.
Brewer has said an argument over property reportedly led to the shooting death of Goss.
In a probable cause affidavit, Brewer stated he responded to a shooting call at 331837 E. Shadow Wood Drive in Lincoln County on July 5 about 12:30 p.m.
He met with Lincoln Deputies Cody Coleman and James Robinson on his arrival who were the initial responders.
He was told Goss had been shot twice by Seamster with a .40 caliber pistol. Brewer said Goss was pronounced dead by medical personnel at 1:26 p.m. that day.
Brewer reported he interviewed Seamster and that he and Goss had an altercation the previous Friday (July 2) about a fence Seamster was building on land he had purchased from Goss’ mother.
According to the affidavit, Seamster said he was mowing his grass in the backyard of his residence and Goss, who lived on the adjoining property on the north side, began yelling and shouting at him a racial slur and then began throwing rocks at him from Goss’ property.
Seamster advised Brewer he went back into his residence and retrieved his SW .40 caliber pistol and continued mowing, carrying the pistol in his lap.
He said as he neared the rear of his property, Goss approached the unfenced property line and was wielding a large stick in a threatening manner to him.
Seamster told Brewer he fired his pistol one or two times, striking Goss who then fled.
He told the sheriff’s captain he then parked his mower, returned to his residence and called 911 to report the shooting.
When asked by Brewer if would he show him the location on his property where Goss had approached him with the large stick and he had shot him, Seamster walked Brewer to the location where he had shot Goss.
Seamster, at Brewer’s request, led the officer to the specific location from where Seamster had fired his weapon at Goss.
Brewer measured the distance at 25 feet from where Seamster was on his mower and Goss was standing with a stick in his hand.
Brewer stated he and other deputies found no ammunition casings on the ground or in the nearby area where Seamster said he was when he fired his weapon. Brewer further noted “nor did we observe any large sticks or objects in the area where he said Goss was standing.”