GUILTY TX - Ashlea Harris, 31, murdered in her Fort Worth home, 28 Nov 2014

[Lori_TX]

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Friends of a Fort Worth woman found dead after a small apartment fire are searching for answers to how her life ended.

Fort Worth Police identified Ashlea Harris, 31, as the victim found at River Ranch Apartments early Friday morning.

Fire fighters were called to the scene after reports of smoke coming from the second floor unit.

They found a small fire contained by the sprinkler system and found Harris soon after.

Police say Harris did not die of natural causes, and her death is being treated as a possible homicide.

Relatives told CBS 11 News that Harris, who worked at American Eagle Outfitters at Hulen Mall, left an early morning shift on Black Friday around 4 a.m. Fire fighters received the call around 8 a.m.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/11/30/friends-mourn-as-fw-police-investigate-possible-homicide/

 

[Lori_TX]

Here's another article:

FORT WORTH -- Fort Worth police confirmed that a woman found dead in a burned apartment 'did not die of natural causes.' Homicide detectives were on the scene throughout the day Friday and a murder investigation is ongoing.

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/loca...ody-found-fort-worth-apartment-fire/19614741/

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.dallasvoice.com/fw-woman-murdered-apartment-burned-10185783.html

A spokesman for the Fort Worth Police Department said firefighters responding to reports of a fire alarm going off in a unit at the River Ranch Apartments, 4700 King Ranch Road, about 4 a.m. Friday found a small blaze inside the apartment that had been contained by the apartment’s sprinkler system. After extinguishing the fire, though, firefighters found Harris’ body.

According to the medical examiner’s website, Harris was found in the bedroom of the apartment.

Friends and family told authorities that Harris, who worked for American Eagle Outfitters at Hulen Mall, had been working a late-night Black Friday shift, and had left the store about 4 a.m.

Ashlea's FB: https://www.facebook.com/ashlea.harris.96

Memorial page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Ashlea-Harris/305265873012633

 

[OkieGranny]

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/201...connection-with-fort-worth-womans-death.html/

Two people have been arrested in connection with the slaying of a Fort Worth woman late last month, Fort Worth police said Saturday.

Clarence Mallory, 19, and Carter Cervantez, 25, each face a charge of capital murder in the death of Ashlea Harris...

Police said they have also charged Cervantez and Mallory with theft. Police said in August the two stole $18,000 from an American Eagle Outfitters at the Hulen Mall.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.khou.com/story/news/loca...oyee-strangled-by-former-co-workers/20136077/

Court documents released Monday detail the death of a Hulen Mall employee and name her two former co-workers as the culprits...

Police say Harris was strangled and badly beaten just before Thanksgiving. Her hands and feet were bound in duct tape. After that, police say, Mallory and Cervantez lit Harris' apartment on fire...

This summer Mallory and Cervantez were suspected of robbing $18,000 dollars from the store. Harris and other workers helped identify Mallory and Cervantez. The two disappeared and were never arrested.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://westmorelandtimes.com/news/1...ager-burned-and-strangled-for-christmas-cash/

Firefighters found Harris, strangled and bound with duct tape. Per police reports Harris had trauma to her face, head, neck and throat. Harris's keys, including the store keys and store safe key, were missing.

After learning of the earlier theft in August, police set up surveillance on the fired couple. Little did they felonious couple know, after the Hulen Mall American Outfitters store managment learned of Harris's death, the store locks were changed.

Police followed the couple as they drove to the mall where Harris worked. Mallory waited in the car as Cervantez went inside to the American Outfitter store. When police questioned Mallory, he said he was waiting for his girlfriend. Police arrested Mallory for not having a valid driver's license. Mall surveillance cameras recorded Cervantez as she tried to access American Outfitter with the stolen keys.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article78218687.html

Cervantez, her curly hair partially pulled back and wearing a black dress with black hose, looked frail as she walked into the courtroom, her ankles shackled... “She is not the child that she would appear to be sitting before you in court today,” Rousseau, who is prosecuting the case along with Ashlea Deener, assured jurors.

Rousseau told jurors that they will hear witness testimony, see video, including of Cervantez lying “through her teeth” to investigators, and learn about DNA evidence proving Cervantez is guilty.

Cervantez’s defense attorneys, Steve Gordon and Bill Ray, chose to not give an opening statement.

Mallory is also charged with capital murder. His trial is pending. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against either defendant.

 

[TexasLori]

Are there any sleuthers here who could help me find info on this case? I'd like to go observe testimony tomorrow but I can't figure out how to see if the court is in session.
TIA!

 

[0101ABA]

Pictures of tools that could be used to pick locks, the front cover of the book Practical Lock Picking, and an armored car parked in front of Hulen Mall were displayed for the jury on Tuesday in a capital murder trial.

Defendant Carter Cervantez sent those and other images in text messages to her co-defendant, David Mallory, Fort Worth police digital forensic specialists testified.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article79682487.html

 

[0101ABA]

Cervantez testified that she knew nothing about the slaying and that she was asleep in the apartment she shared with Mallory when Harris was killed.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article79977537.html

 

[0101ABA]

A woman was found guilty of capital murder Thursday for helping to beat, bind and set fire to another woman as part of a Black Friday robbery scheme in 2014.

Carter Carol Cervantez, 27, (...) received life in prison without the possibility of parole.

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/201...o-another-woman-as-part-of-robbery-plot.html/

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article169152177.html

A jury took about an hour Thursday to sentence a man to life in prison for tying up a popular Fort Worth assistant store manager on Black Friday in 2014, beating and killing her, then burning the body.

Ashlea Ann Harris was murdered Nov. 28, 2014, by Clarence David Mallory, 22, and his co-defendant, Carter Carol Cervantes, 28. Cervantes also received a sentence of life without parole at a separate trial in May 2016.