Andrew Lee Hall Sr., a 46-year-old man from Des Moines, was fatally wounded during an encounter outside the Maingate Bar and Grill on East Grand Avenue near the Iowa State Fairgrounds on December 2, 2021. Des Moines police said the violence began when 17-year-old Drake Russell Armstrong became involved in an argument with a woman in the bar's parking lot. Hall attempted to intervene and break up the confrontation, but police said Armstrong became aggressive toward him and shot him.
Hall was critically injured and rushed to a hospital, where doctors continued treating him for the gunshot wound for more than three weeks.
Later accounts connected with a civil lawsuit provided additional details about the moments surrounding the shooting. According to allegations in that case, Hall had gone to the Maingate with his teenage son. Armstrong was reportedly preparing to leave and was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle being driven by Hall's son when an argument developed between Armstrong and Hall. Armstrong allegedly got out of the vehicle and shot Hall in the abdomen. Hall's son later said that he was less than five feet away when his father was shot, leaving him to witness the shooting at extremely close range. Armstrong subsequently left the scene.
Police arrested Armstrong in connection with the shooting. Before Hall died, Armstrong faced charges that included attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury, assault while participating in a felony, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Investigators said Armstrong had previously been convicted of firearms-related offenses following a 2020 arrest and was on supervised release when Hall was shot. Once Hall died from his injuries, prosecutors elevated the case and charged Armstrong with first-degree murder. The killing was classified as Des Moines' 13th homicide of 2021.
Contemporaneous police reporting announced Hall's death on December 27, 2021, describing his death as occurring 25 days after the December 2 shooting. His published obituary, however, records that he passed away on December 26 while surrounded by family in Des Moines. Both records therefore place his death in late December rather than December 7. Hall left behind a large family, including his wife, children and grandchildren.
The investigation also focused on Jessica Olson, a bartender at the Maingate. A later lawsuit alleged that Olson knew Armstrong was underage but nevertheless served him alcohol before the shooting. The lawsuit claimed Armstrong had consumed multiple drinks and was extremely intoxicated by the time Hall was shot. Olson was also accused of driving Armstrong away after the shooting. Criminal charges were filed against her for providing alcohol to a minor and acting as an accessory after the fact. She ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation.
Hall's family pursued a civil case against Olson and the Maingate Bar and Grill, arguing that the establishment and bartender should bear responsibility for knowingly serving the underage Armstrong before the fatal confrontation. Armstrong was also named in litigation stemming from the killing. The family's lawsuit against the bar and Olson remained pending into 2023 but was permanently dismissed at the plaintiffs' request in August of that year. Public court filings did not reveal whether a private settlement had been reached.
Armstrong did not ultimately stand trial on the original first-degree murder charge. He later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other offenses connected with the case and was sentenced in 2022 to prison terms totaling as much as 50 years. Iowa Department of Corrections records list Drake Russell Armstrong as imprisoned for voluntary manslaughter, with a June 9, 2022 commitment date. Thus, a confrontation that began with Hall attempting to intervene in trouble outside a Des Moines bar ended first with his prolonged hospitalization and death, and eventually with the teenage gunman responsible for the shooting being convicted and sent to state prison.
