On July 25, 1994, 15-year-old Jeremy Wade Allen was shot and killed outside Ottumwa High School after a dispute that began over the weekend and carried into the school week. The confrontation occurred after a driver’s education class when a fellow student, 16-year-old Michael Patrick Leon Coffman, brought a .22 caliber revolver to school and shot Jeremy twice in the head, inflicting fatal injuries.

Coffman was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. In August 1995 a jury convicted him and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. A later legal development prompted a review of the sentence and it was amended to life with the possibility of parole.

Jeremy’s death devastated the Ottumwa community. If anyone remembers Jeremy, the events around July 25, 1994, or has information about that day, please come forward.