Hollywood Casino St. Louis Parking Garage Violent Robber Enters Plea

Posted on: March 15, 2022, 01:31h. 

Last updated on: March 15, 2022, 06:06h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A 59-year-old Missouri man who is charged with robbing a woman three years ago in the Hollywood Casino St. Louis parking garage has entered a special kind of plea in local court this week.

Missouri's Hollywood Casino St. Louis
Missouri’s Hollywood Casino St. Louis, pictured above. A man entered a plea this week for a robbery that took place three years ago at the casino. (Image: Cvent)

Kevin Shumpert announced in court he was entering his admission under a blind Alford plea, reported KTVI, a local TV station. It means he admits prosecutors have the evidence to prove his guilt, though he does not admit guilt, the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office explained in a statement.

He did not negotiate the plea with prosecutors. He was charged with second-degree robbery for the March 14, 2019 hold-up in the Maryland Heights casino. Shumpert is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.

Kicked, Punched Victim

Prosecutors said Shumpert went up to the victim and allegedly kicked her legs and repeatedly punched her in the face.

This defendant gambled that he could rough up a woman and snatch her purse and get away with it, but he lost,” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in the statement. “At least with this guilty plea, the victim, in this case, has been spared the trauma of testifying at trial, and hopefully this will bring her closure.”

She suffered bruises on her face, swelling and cuts. He allegedly fled the garage with her purse.

Injuries After Concert

In an unrelated 2019 incident, a Jefferson City, Missouri man died after being hit by a chair tossed by staff at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in St. Louis. The incident happened in the aftermath of a concert by the Dave Matthews Band, according to a lawsuit filed in 2020.

Jasen Smith, 44, attended the event with his wife, Darcy-Smith, and friends on May 15, 2019, at the casino venue. After the concert, the couple and their friends left the venue, at which point Darcy-Smith realized she had left behind her souvenir T-shirt commemorating the performance.

Jasen Smith went back to retrieve it, just as employees were collapsing hundreds of chairs that had been set up on the lawn, says the wrongful death lawsuit, filed on behalf of Darcy-Smith.

Smith was walking through a pedestrian walkway when he was hit by one of the chairs, which caused him to stumble backward and hit his head on concrete. The suit claims Hollywood Casino Amphitheater staff were slow to come to Smith’s aid because they assumed he was drunk.

Smith died the next day in a local hospital of a brain injury. Doctors determined he suffered a blunt force injury to the back of his head that fractured his skull.

The Hollywood Casino St Louis is a Penn National Gaming property, but the amphitheater is owned by Live Nation, global concert promotion and ticketing company and venue owner. Thus, the lawsuit accuses Live Nation — not Penn National — of negligence resulting in wrongful death. It is unknown if the lawsuit has been resolved.