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Jacob Gatten's family wants charges filed a year after his murder

Jacob Gatten's family said, “When we come together as a family, it never feels complete knowing that in every vacation, in every photo, and in every moment of life, we will miss our brother forever.”

Every day for a year, Phillip and Sharon Husbands thought about the last day their son Jacob stood in their Greene County home. They would give anything to keep him there for another hour.

The 33-year-old described his parents as his “best friends” and loved hanging out with them, his siblings and his then three-year-old son.

After leaving his parents' house that evening, the last Saturday in October 2023, Jacob Gatten – who called himself Jake – made his way to his home in Springfield.

Shortly before 10 p.m., Gatten came across a narrow street in the 2400 block of South Sheridan Boulevard filled with cars from a nearby Halloween house party.

The family said Gatten became frustrated and made a comment to some teenagers nearby. Springfield police said an argument broke out and quickly escalated. Several shots were fired.

The unarmed husband was shot. He was found on the street and taken by ambulance to a hospital where he died.

“Our parents wish every day that Jake had stayed at their house a little longer that night, which may have drastically changed the night. Her constant pain and grief is with her every moment of the day,” Jake's sister Marissa Gatten said as part of a statement from the family to the News-Leader.

“When we come together as a family, it never feels complete knowing that we will forever miss our brother in every vacation, in every photo, in every moment of life.”

The suspected shooter, a teenager, fled the scene along with a 19-year-old who police say was also involved. Both were arrested, but neither was charged in the case.

“Until recently, our family trusted our community's law enforcement and justice system to keep criminals off our streets and at least allow Jake's killer his day in court to be judged by a jury of his peers,” Marissa Gatten wrote in the family statement .

“At every level of the system we feel they have failed us. In many cases, they actively ignored us. We never imagined that on the one-year anniversary we would not be filing charges against one of these men. We don’t want to suffer in silence any longer.”

Family sues in court

The Gatten family said they have contacted the mayor, Springfield police and the Greene County district attorney asking that charges be filed in the case.

In a response to the News-Leader, police spokeswoman Cris Swaters said there have been two arrests in the case. She said investigators had fully investigated the crime and presented the information to prosecutors.

She noted that “charging decisions are made by the prosecutor, not the police.”

Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said his office declined to file charges in February. He said in March, the lead investigator and the deputy prosecutor assigned to review the case sat down with the family to explain the steps taken and the decision.

“We could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this was not self-defense,” he said.

Patterson said state law allows the use of force when a person reasonably believes that he or another person is in imminent danger.

In this case, he said the suspected shooter could reasonably argue self-defense, or more specifically, in this situation, the use of force in “defense of another.”

Patterson said it's impossible to understand the pain a family goes through when they lose a loved one during an act of violence, and the search for justice is understandable.

He said his office was ethically obligated to file charges only when there was sufficient evidence. “And that didn’t exist in this case.”

More: Teen charged as an adult in a kidnapping case is also charged with murder in the Oct. 28 death

The suspected shooter, a 17-year-old from Pleasant Hope, is charged with two felonies in a separate case: first-degree robbery and kidnapping inflicting injury with intent to terrorize.

If convicted of the most serious crime, he faces at least ten years to life in prison.

“I want to make it 100% clear that there is no speculation about who shot my brother. This was confirmed by the investigators who worked the case and the city prosecutors,” said Marissa Gatten.

Keeping the memory of your husband alive

Born on Christmas Eve 1989, Gatten graduated from Bishop McNamara High School in 2008 and attended Ozarks Technical Community College and Missouri State University.

He learned the construction trade with his father and, after working as a carpenter and foreman, became self-employed.

“Jake had plans to continue his construction business and was working on a remodeling plan for someone's home before he was killed,” Marissa Gatten said in a family statement.

Gatten immersed himself in music, attending festivals and concerts and working on becoming a DJ.

“Jake had a larger-than-life personality. He made friends wherever he went and was always cracking jokes or making an impression – his personal favorite was Ace Ventura,” Marissa Gatten said in the statement.

“His facial expressions were enough to elicit a lot of laughter. He was a passionate person and if he set his mind to something, he would achieve it. He was smart and creative and was always working on a new project.”

The family said their son and brother should be here. He should spend time with friends and family at Table Rock Lake, enjoying the sun and listening to music.

“His life changed forever with the birth of his son,” wrote Marissa Gatten. “When it came to his son, Jake became a better version of himself. He made him his whole world. He spent his last hours before his death with his son.”

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