BETHALTO, Ill. — A Metro East woman is sharing her horrific story, after a man convicted of kidnapping her in 2018, is now accused of murdering a woman in Springfield, Illinois.
Law enforcement officers, including the U.S. Marshals, are looking for Gabriel Calixto about the July murder of 24-year-old Emma Shafer.
“I don’t sleep at night knowing that he’s out there,” said Katie O’Brien.
O’Brien dated Calixto for three-and-a-half years.
“It wasn’t really until after we broke up that it all went bad,” said O’Brien.
Following the breakup, O’Brien says Calixto broke into a relative’s home and threatened her.
“He brought a knife,” said O’Brien. “It was up against my throat.”
She filed a restraining order against Calixto, but O'Brien says a few weeks later he was waiting for her outside of her house.
"That's when he pulled the gun out and said I want to talk,” said O’Brien.
Calixto forced O'Brien to drive to a Fairmont City Hotel where she says he had a mental breakdown.
"I didn't know his next move,” said O’Brien. “Saying one thing to one part of him would be right, but to another it was completely wrong. If I didn't do the exact things I did to come home, I would've never come home."
In 2018, Calixto was sentenced to six years in prison for kidnapping O'Brien.
"You hope someone gets better and not worse,” said O’Brien.
Calixto's sentence was vacated in 2020 by then Madison Couty State's Attorney Thomas Gibbons' office for constitutional reasons and he was given credit for time served.
Court records noted that the court found measures factors present to sentence Calixto to an extended term.
"I definitely think he should still be in prison,” said O’Brien.
Current Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine sent 5 on Your Side the following statement about Calixto’s release under a previous administration.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Emma Shafer. What transpired here is deeply disturbing and upsetting. In October 2020, prior to my administration, this defendant’s guilty plea was modified. The reason for this modification is frustratingly unclear. There was no hearing held on the modification, and there is no transcript. The employment of the former assistant state’s attorney responsible for this modification terminated in February 2021. My office will continue to assist the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office and the other authorities in Sangamon County in any manner.”
"To lose someone in the community for something that feels preventable is awful,” said O’Brien. “Turn yourself in. You've done wrong. You know you've done wrong, because you've done it before."
If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of Calixto, then you’re being asked to call Crimestoppers at (217)788-8427.