EDWARDSVILLE – Austin Mullins, 22, of Alton, was sentenced to 32 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the July 2023 fatal shooting of Jacob “Jake” Wall, 23, of Wood River, in Madison County Circuit Court in Edwardsville.
Judge Kyle Napp handed down the sentence after Mullins admitted to fatally shooting Wall during a party on July 24, 2023, in Wood River, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. Mullins was 19 at the time of the shooting.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to a 40-year sentencing cap. Mullins entered the plea before Napp.
At 4:09 a.m. on Monday, July 24, 2023, the Wood River Police Department received a 911 call reporting that a person had been shot at 834 Tennyson Street in Wood River. Police and emergency personnel responded immediately.
During the sentencing hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Hudson, chief of the criminal division, and Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Maricle, chief of the violent crimes unit, played a jailhouse phone call from Mullins to his girlfriend in which prosecutors said he told her in code where the gun was hidden and to get rid of it.
Wood River Detective Sgt. Brent Rombach testified that Mullins gave police conflicting information about where the gun was located after the shooting, but officers never found it.
Rombach also testified that Mullins had been a suspect in two previous shootings in Wood River in which two occupied homes were struck by gunfire. Nobody was shot in those incidents.
During victim impact statements, Wall’s mother and sister addressed the court.
Mullins was represented by David Fahrenkamp, who asked for a sentence of 13 to 16 years. Fahrenkamp called Dr. Rod Hoevet, a clinical and forensic psychologist, who testified that Mullins had learning and developmental delays that could affect his thinking.
Mullins must serve 100% of his sentence, with credit for time already served while awaiting sentencing.
