{"id":10950,"date":"2026-01-18T10:20:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T10:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=10950"},"modified":"2026-01-18T10:20:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T10:20:42","slug":"plea-agreement-reached-in-des-moines-murder-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=10950","title":{"rendered":"Plea agreement reached in Des Moines murder trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DES MOINES \u2013 A plea deal has been reached in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her stepfather.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>DES MOINES \u2013 A plea deal has been reached in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her stepfather.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>After being charged with Murder in the Second Degree in the shooting death of stepfather Anthony Hartmann, 29-year-old Sera Alexander entered a guilty plea to two amended charges\u2014Involuntary Manslaughter (Class D Felony) and Reckless Use of a Firearm Causing Serious Injury (Class C Felony).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Alexander\u2019s trial began Monday at the Drake Legal Clinic in Des Moines, with first responders, as well as Alexander\u2019s brother and mother, testifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>The prosecution argued that Alexander was driven by anger and hatred, not fear, in\u00a0shooting Hartmann after he was in the house in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.weareiowa.com\/news\/local-news\/woman-accused-of-killing-stepfather-pleads-not-guilty\/751108934\">May 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cWhile he was collecting his tools, she was collecting her loaded gun, she was focused, focused on confronting him and removing tony from her life once and for all,\u201d said Assistant Polk County Attorney Shannon Archer. \u201cThe imminent threat was his presence\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Defense attorneys, however, said a history of violence and abuse with the family made Alexander feel threatened.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cTony displayed a smorsgesborg of behaviors that instilled fear in the whole family, in Sera Alexander, and ultimately contributed to his death,\u201d said defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Alexander\u2019s mother and Hartmann\u2019s estranged wife, Susan Hartmann, testified Wednesday that she didn\u2019t feel safe in the home, often spending increased time at work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>\u201cI never knew when I was going to get hurt. When he wasn\u2019t physically hurting me he was threatening. He would threaten to destroy the house,\u201d Hartmann testified. \u201cIf I stayed, things would get destroyed in the\u00a0house. If he wasn\u2019t harming me physically \u2026 I\u00a0never knew when he\u2019d be on a rant and literally be up all night long screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>As part of the plea agreement, Alexander waives her right to appeal, and both sides will be free to argue appropriate sentencing on a to-be-determined date.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\">\n<p>Involuntary Manslaughter carries a maximum 5-year prison sentence; Reckless Use of a Firearm Causing Serious Injury carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.\u00a0$150,000 in restitution will also be charged to Alexander.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DES MOINES \u2013 A plea deal has been reached in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her stepfather. DES MOINES \u2013 A plea deal has been reached in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her stepfather.\u00a0 After being charged with Murder in the Second Degree in the shooting death [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":485,"featured_media":10951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Plea agreement reached in Des Moines murder trial - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=10950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plea agreement reached in Des Moines murder trial - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DES MOINES \u2013 A plea deal has been reached in the murder trial of a woman accused of killing her stepfather. 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