Kansas Man Sentenced For Killing Pregnant Girlfriend on the Day She Would Have Learned Baby’s Gender

A 30-year-old Kansas Metropolis, Kansas man will spend the remainder of his life behind bars after being convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend. Johnson County District Court docket Decide James Charles Droege on Friday handed down a sentence of life with out the potential of parole to Devonte Dominique Wash for the deadly taking pictures of 23-year-old Ashley Harlan in 2018, court docket data reviewed by Legislation&Crime present.

A jury discovered Wash responsible of capital homicide in Harlan’s dying, a conviction that requires a compulsory life sentence beneath Kansas state legislation, in accordance with a press release from the Johnson County District Legal professional’s Workplace.

Prosecutors argued that Wash at roughly 4 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2018 referred to as 911 and instructed the emergency dispatcher that his girlfriend had been shot at a residence situated on E. Westerfield Place close to Prairie Avenue in Olathe. Officers with the Olathe Police Division responded to the house, which belonged to Ashley’s grandfather.

Upon arriving on the scene, first responders stated they discovered Ashley on the bottom affected by what seemed to be a number of gunshot wounds. She was pronounced useless on the scene. Investigators reportedly stated that Ashley had been shot thrice — one of many photographs was to her head — and that her physique had been moved after she died, Kansas Metropolis FOX affiliate WDAF reported. There was no firearm left on the scene and solely a single bullet casing was recovered.

Ashley was roughly 20-weeks pregnant and was going to be taught the intercourse of the newborn on the day that Wash gunned her down, The Kansas Metropolis Star newspaper reported. She reportedly moved in to her grandfather’s house not too long ago in an effort to be nearer to Wash.

Following Ashley’s dying, proof pointing towards Wash’s culpability started to steadily mount.

A number of of Ashley’s buddies reportedly instructed police that Ashley had been in contact with them the night time earlier than she died and instructed them she was nervous about Wash, per WDAF. Household and buddies additionally stated that she had turn into more and more remoted resulting from her relationship, with one buddy reportedly describing Wash as “controlling” in an interview with The Each day Mail.

Wash reportedly began questioning potential witnesses about their interactions with police and made makes an attempt to search out out what info investigators might glean from cell tower information about his whereabouts. A search of Wash’s cellphone additionally reportedly revealed that he deleted a number of messages exchanged with a buddy simply earlier than Ashley’s killing. Detectives executed a search warrant on the house of that buddy the place they reportedly recovered bullet casings matching the gun used to homicide Ashley.

Investigators quickly found that Wash, who claimed to have by no means owned or purchased a firearm, used money to buy a gun from a sporting items retailer in Kansas Metropolis. The gun and and ammunition had been reportedly appropriate with the these utilized in Ashely’s homicide.

Moreover, Wash rented a U-Haul truck the day earlier than the taking pictures beneath his buddy’s title. The car was captured on surveillance digital camera footage three blocks from Ashley’s grandfather’s house simply after the taking pictures. The buddy reportedly instructed police that Wash instructed him to not point out the truck to investigators.

Per the Star, prosecutors at trial contended that Wash knew Ashley can be at church that afternoon, so he waited at her house and killed her when she got here inside.

“This has been a protracted 4 years, and I’m grateful the household caught with us via this case,” Johnson County District Legal professional Steve Howe stated, per the Star. “Justice has been performed for Ashley in the present day.”

[image via Johnson County Sheriff’s Office]

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