The Misery Machine - The Case of Ashley Biggs

Starting point is 00:00:04 Ashley Biggs was born on January 9th, 1987, and was raised in Akron, Ohio by her mother Kimberly Biggs and her grandmother, Madeline Biggs. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at yamava Theater.com. Only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. You survived the Miami weekend, nailed the speech, and maxed out your credit card in the name of friendship.

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Starting point is 00:02:34 She was my girlfriend. We were looking at rings. We were about to be engaged. She was my everything, my life. But sadly, the world isn't always kind to those who are. Growing up, Ashley was bullied in high school due to the fact she tended to dress more on the masculine side. And up until this point in the story had primarily been dating other women. She was 17.

Starting point is 00:02:56 Ashley met Chad Cobb at a roller rank around 2003. It was a few years older than her. You graduated from high school six months earlier and served a brief stint in the army. For whatever reason, he was discharged early and we could not find any details as to why that might have been. At first, the two were just friends, but as they spent more and more time together, they felt they needed something more than friendship and soon began dating. 2005, just two years after they first met, Ashley gave birth to their daughter, whom we will refer to as G for her privacy. We are aware that she has been named by many other publications, but

Starting point is 00:03:31 given that she was a minor at the time and has not spoken publicly since becoming an adult, we are choosing not to name her. Now, Chad's mother, Cindy Cobb, described how becoming a dad was Chad's shining moment. However, his relationship with Ashley did not last long. Cindy recalled, I know that Ashley started seeing other people, other girls. She kind of bounced back and forth between being with Chad or being with girlfriends. However, as you'll soon learn, there was much more to the story than that. The parents initially agreed on a 50-50 arrangement, but later, Ashley enlisted in the army

Starting point is 00:04:05 and full custody was awarded to Chad. The parents also mutually agreed that once Ashley returned, G's custody would revert to the previous arrangement. Ashley's initial aspiration was to serve as a petroleum supply specialist or a 92F. She briefly held that role after completing her training,

Starting point is 00:04:23 but her asthma made it difficult for her to continue and she was forced to step away. She was medically discharged. Six years after she first joined the army, Ashley returned to her hometown of Akron trying to figure out her next moves. After returning from the army, she met Brittany Dunson. According to Brittany, I met her at my aunt's house and it was a clique. She laughed and I just knew.

Starting point is 00:04:45 The two were inseparable from the moment they met. They later got engaged and they were soon planning their wedding. As for Chad, he also moved on with his life. In 2006, he met a woman named Erica Lyon on, MySpace. Erica shared many things in common with Chad. They were both single parents, still young, and figuring out their lives. In 2010, the couple married and went on to have two children together.

Starting point is 00:05:11 Even though Chad and Ashley seemed to have moved on with their lives, there was still one undeniable connection between them. That was their daughter, G. After her time in the army, Ashley wanted to regain custody. However, Chad was not ready to let go. Glaimed Ashley for her absence in G's life, as she hadn't seen her daughter in nearly two years. But Ashley had been serving in the military during that time. And according to Ashley, when she tried to reach out after her discharge, Chad was unwilling to reach a mutual agreement.

Starting point is 00:05:38 But in 2011, Ashley received a letter from the County Children's Services Board. Letter stated that federal authorities were looking into G's custody and were concerned she might not be safe around Chad. For Ashley, this was not surprising at all, as she had already seen Chad's violence side and had even shared her fears with Brittany. legal records also showed that Chad was arrested in 2005 and pled guilty to family violence against Ashley. Her family also reported that Ashley had been acting distant. When they did see her, she was covered in bruises. Last time Chad was violent towards Ashley was right before she left.

Starting point is 00:06:12 And reportedly, she had G in her arms when it happened. Remember when we mentioned earlier that there would be more to the story with regard to Chad and Ashley's breakup? Well, this is it. Ashley had enough, walked away from Chad, and decided to elicit. into the army. Brittany later recalled that Ashley had a protection order against him because she was terrified of what he might do. We'll be back in just one minute. Please stick around for the following ad. It not only supports the channel, but it also supports charities in our area. Remember last summer when I did this to my hair? It might have looked fun for a minute,

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Starting point is 00:08:12 She had strong arguments for the court and the law was leaning in her favor. In October of 2011, a local magistrate officially awarded custody of Jada Ashley. Oddly enough, this decision was never brought, brought to Chad's attention. Now, at the time, G was just a first grader. Chad went to pick up his daughter from school, only to find out that there was no daughter to be picked up. According to Cindy, Ashley had come to collect G that day. She was accompanied by police officers since G didn't recognize

Starting point is 00:08:43 her own mother. Now, it should be noted that we found a series of legal documents that shed some light on the bitter custody battle between both Ashley and Chad. These documents were posted online by Chad's mother, Cindy Cobb. This is by no means meant to shame Ashley, but they are important things to note as it provides additional context about the custody battle. We will have these on screen as well as

Starting point is 00:09:08 in the show notes if you're interested in looking at them. So a document titled, What About G, goes on to outline the following. Chad alleged that Ashley had abandoned G until she was six years old, only to illegally take her from school under false pretences. Gee was traumatized by the event

Starting point is 00:09:28 due to the fact that she hadn't seen Ashley in years and had no idea who she was. At the time she regained custody, Ashley was living with her girlfriend, Britney Dunson, Britney's mother, as well as Britney's brother, who was a tier two offender on the registry, who had a history of targeting young girls.

Starting point is 00:09:48 In a magistrate's order dated 411, 2012, Magistrate Burnett made the following bizarre rulings directed towards Ashley. Item 6 states that the parties were prohibited from applying temporary tattoos on G in locations deemed provocative, which included but not limited to her lower back in rib cage. Item 8 states that parties were prohibited from disrobing or exposing G to nudity. Item 9 states that G was to have access to a cell phone at all time. and it was not to be in the possession of either Ashley or Brittany. During dinner or sleeping hours, the cell phone was to be placed in a central location

Starting point is 00:10:30 and Chad was to be notified of said location. In a letter dated August 9, 2014, Erica penned a letter to the court alleging the following, that G did not want to go back to Ashley's home and would cling to Chad's leg begging to stay. That G's younger siblings were negatively affected by their old older sister being removed from their home, and that they had wrapped up over $60,000 in legal bills fighting over G's custody. In addition, Chad and Erica were concerned about some of the

Starting point is 00:11:03 things that Brittany was posting to Facebook. In a post dated December 12th, Brittany posted the following. Sometimes kids need to be hit. Gee is so ungrateful sometimes. In a court transcript where Brittany is being interviewed, it's noted that she made Facebook posts which she keeps calling it MySpace, claiming that she and Ashley drink and shoot guns. And allegedly, she made post-quoting Hank Williams referencing shooting someone, which Chad was concerned was about G. After her time in the army, Ashley took on different jobs. One of those roles was working as a home aide where she quickly became known for her warmth and dedication. Though she eventually left that position, her clients never forgot her kindness. Pat Haight, whose late husband

Starting point is 00:11:51 was cared for by Ashley for nearly a year, recalled she was very kind with him. After that, Ashley enrolled at Stark State College hoping to become a physical therapist. But chasing that ambition came with a heavy load of responsibility. To make sure she can provide for her daughter's future and keep herself afloat, she worked two jobs while studying. One was a janitor at Malone University, and the other was a part-time delivery driver for Domino's. On the other hand, Chad and Eric had managed to regain visitation rights with G, but for them, that simply wasn't enough. They were desperate to keep all four of their children under their roof. Furthermore, whenever Chad faced Ashley, he acted hostile towards her, as if he just wanted

Starting point is 00:12:35 her to disappear again. For the next few months, Chad and Erica made repeated calls to child welfare authorities, urging them to check on G. But each time the authorities visited, they found no signs of neglect. Instead, it became clear that Chad's actions were perhaps driven by frustration over losing custody of his daughter. As behavior was seen as suspicious, as if he had been planning something, this is becoming more obvious to those around him. According to Ashley's neighbor, Candice Andre, he's been here a few times trying to get the layout of the apartment, camped out in the parking lot.

Starting point is 00:13:08 I always told her, if I see something suspicious, I'll let you know. But by this point, Chad was growing impatient. The mounting legal costs of the custody battle were draining him. Chad's mother, Cindy remembered his frustration stating one of his last conversations with me was he was going to turn custody over. He didn't know what else to do. On the night of June 20th, 2012, Ashley was working her usual late night shift at Domino's. At around 1142 p.m., she received an order for half-peperoni, half-mushroom pizza to be delivered to 647 West Turkey Foot Lake Road. It was a female voice that place the order. The address turned out to be a closed business with an empty parking lot in Akron. Even so, unusual delivery spots like this weren't entirely uncommon. Now, for example,

Starting point is 00:13:59 just to prove this is not that weird, in my 20s, my friends and I were coming back from a concert, and our car broke down. It completely, not really broke down, but two of the tires just blew out. We did not have two spares on us. So while we waited at the side of the road, it was passing, Midnight, we had Papa John's come over and deliver us a pizza in this empty parking lot in the side of the road. Now, Ashley left with the pizza at around 11.59 p.m., but when she didn't return, her colleagues grew worried. The drop-off location wasn't far from the dominoes that she worked at, so the delay felt unusual. By 12.45 a.m., they contacted the police to file a missing person's report. When officers arrived, they quickly noticed signs of a struggle.

Starting point is 00:14:45 drag marks streaked across the pavement and there were traces of Ashley's blood showing that she had been ambushed and fought back. The police also noticed taser parts and some cash strewn about. But as for Ashley in her car, there were no signs of either. This immediately raised red flags for the police as they began their search for Ashley. Brittany reached out to the investigators, letting them know about the bitter custody battle between Ashley and Chad. With that, the police already had a potential situation. suspect in mind. By around 4.30 a.m., officers tracked down Chad's Lincoln Navigator, which was parked on his grandparents' property. Inside, they found Erica and the couple's four children hiding behind

Starting point is 00:15:27 a barn. Chad was discovered nearby in the woods, decked out in camo, as if he had already suspected that the police would come looking for him. Near that morning, a passerby spotted Ashley's car abandoned in a cornfield in Chippewa Township, Ohio. Her body was located in the backseat with her arms, legs, and neck bound by industrial size zip ties. According to investigators, Erica said that Chad came home at around 1 a.m. and ordered her to pack up the kids because they had to leave. The family drove to Chad's grandparents, where Chad got out of the car and told her that he would be back.

Starting point is 00:16:00 Chad and Erica were taken into custody right away in question, but both insisted they had no idea what happened to Ashley. Although their behavior clearly raised red flags, about solid evidence police had no leave. legal grounds to hold them in custody. At this point, the detectives were desperate for clues that could link Chad to Ashley's murder, and sure enough, they did find one. This breakthrough came when they searched Chad's house and discovered a backpack filled

Starting point is 00:16:25 with incriminating items, several of them stained with blood, and was swiftly charged with first-degree murder. Under Ohio law, this made him a candidate for the death penalty. But Chad wanted to avoid that. Attorney Don Mallor-6 stated, it was a tough case. This wasn't a case that we felt we were. could take to trial and do well on. Our number one goal was to avoid the death penalty. That was clear. We talked about the time when the government might want to execute Chad and how old his kids would be.

Starting point is 00:16:52 I said, Chad, you need to be there for your kids. That was the driving force. Chad wanted to be some type of father, some type of positive influence for his children, so he accepted a deal for life without the possibility of parole. So in February of 2013, Chad pled guilty to all 10 charges against him, including aggravated murder, kidnapping, and robbery. In return, prosecutors agreed to drop the death penalty. Chad said that his children were a major factor in this choice. He feared that if he lost his parental rights, his parents and grandparents would have no legal claim to them either, leaving the possibility that the kids could end up in foster care. But even though Chad was already behind bars, the case was far from over for investigators.

Starting point is 00:17:34 Detective Michael Hitchin still had unanswered questions. Who was the woman that placed the order that Lord Ashley and was there anyone else besides Chad involved in the crime? When interviewed, Chad remained silent about anyone else's role, insisting he alone was responsible. But to Detective Hitchens, the silence spoke volumes. He already suspected Erica's involvement and believed Chad was protecting her by refusing to name her. Detectives also discovered that the call for Domino's had been placed using a burner phone. Records show that the phone was purchased at a local Walmart just days. before the murder and was activated on the same day that Ashley was killed.

Starting point is 00:18:13 When detectives pulled the surveillance footage, they saw Chad there with Erica and his children by his side. Meanwhile, Detective Hitchens kept a close eye on Erica's Facebook activity and was stunned to find a post featuring a picture of O.J. Simpson with the caption, 99 problems in a chain one. To investigators, this made it painfully clear that Erica felt no remorse for Ashley's death whatsoever. It was even more surprising.

Starting point is 00:18:37 Erica was pregnant once again, but the father was not Chad. It was actually his best friend, Mike Stathanko. Chad's mother, Cindy, described the situation as unbelievable. Erica got together with Mike shortly after Chad went to jail. First, she told me she didn't know who it was, that she had just gotten drunk and picked up some guy. And then later on, we found out that, yeah, she had been with Mike. They had been together for some time.

Starting point is 00:19:02 She kind of wanted to stay married to Chad and just have Mike on the outside. And Chad was like, no, you're my wife. I'm not sharing you. For Chad, he felt this was a devastating betrayal. He had kept his mouth shut in prison. He protected Erica from further suspicion, and yet the woman he had tried to protect was now with his best friend,

Starting point is 00:19:19 but that wasn't the end of it. Things got even worse when Chad received the handwritten letter from his daughter in prison describing how Erica had been treating her lately. According to G, she was my stepmom, and I did call her mom. She was physically and mentally abusive, and I was told not to tell anybody or else.

Starting point is 00:19:37 else she would do worse. In her letter, she described the cruelty she endured from Erica. I can remember being locked in the cage one time. She caught me saying your name and crying. She pinned me to the wall, then screamed in my face, put me on the floor. She put her left knee on my stomach, her right on my throat, and her hand one over the other, over my mouth. She recalled that she thought Erica might kill her.

Starting point is 00:20:00 The violence went way beyond physical assaults as well. She also revealed that Erica forced her to eat. Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapino citrus salsa with bright citrus, real red jalapinos, guahillo chilis. Usually, you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good, the food is just there to get the sauce to your mouth. That rolled cassidia, not a rolled cassidia anymore. Now it's a sauce shovel.

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Starting point is 00:20:42 I didn't have an option. According to G, Erica did so because she was jealous of the close relationship she had with her father. Gee's words, she wanted him all to herself. This behavior didn't end there. Even after Ashley's death, Erica's hatred towards her lingered. Remember that Facebook post she made, flaunting her lack of remorse? That wasn't clear enough. Chad's friend Mary Brinkman later testified that Erica made.

Starting point is 00:21:05 no secret of her hatred for Ashley. I recounted that Erica defecated on Ashley's grave. Did she ever talk about Ashley during your conversation? She did talk about Ashley. Actually a lot

Starting point is 00:21:23 over the course of our friendship and the time that we had been friends and spent together. During the dinner conversation wasn't so much about Ashley in that conversation. But she had talked about her before. She really kind of expressed her hate for her.

Starting point is 00:21:45 She had talked about, and I don't know how anybody could do this, but she talked about how she had gotten into her email and social media accounts, and she could see what Ashley was doing, what she was saying, what she knew, things like that. Did she talk about after Ashley was murdered, anything she may have done in regards to Ashley? She did say that after everything had happened, that she would visit Ashley's grave.

Starting point is 00:22:32 And at one point, I know that she had said that she had defecated. on her grave. And why did she say she did this? Recording cuts off, but allegedly Erica stated that this was, and I quote, for all the shit she put us through. Nevertheless, the years of violence G endured, combined with the humiliation of Erica carrying on an affair

Starting point is 00:22:58 with Chad's best friend Mike, inside the very home Chad had paid for, finally broke him. The betrayal was too much to ignore, and Chad could no longer remain silent. Feeling cornered and deceived, he chose to strike back. In 2017, Chad penned a letter to Detective Hitchings saying he was ready to talk. The detective immediately suspected what was coming. Chad was about to implicate someone else in Ashley's murder.

Starting point is 00:23:26 That person was none other than Erica. According to Chad, Erica had orchestrated the entire plan. She selected the location. She drove beside him during the ride back home. and he even suggested she was the one who secured the zip ties around Ashley. In Chad's version, Erica was not just an accomplice, but the whole mastermind. However, Chad's testimony alone wasn't nearly enough to bring Erica down. Authorities needed more than his word if they were ever going to be able to hold her accountable.

Starting point is 00:24:01 And they got it via Cindy. On a cold spring night back in 2014, Cindy invited Erica over to her remodeled barn. Erica probably thought she could smooth things over with her and even get her to lean on chat to stay quiet. But what Erica didn't realize was that she was walking straight into a trap. Cindy had hidden a small recorder on the table among a bunch of other things. For the first hour and a half, it was nothing but small talk. But eventually, after 90 minutes, Erica slipped and opened up about the case. It's important to know that this conversation was carefully planned by Cindy.

Starting point is 00:25:05 Cindy and Chad. They recorded it as evidence just in case things didn't go the way they hoped. And as it turned out, they didn't. Erica went on to marry Chad's best friend and restricted his children from seeing him in jail or even their grandmother. Reasons more than enough for Cindy and Chad to finally release the recording to the police in 2018. Erica's life wasn't smooth after Chad's arrest. She lived in constant paranoia, as she herself admitted, every time I'm I hear a siren, I think they're coming for me. On November 11th, 2019, the detectives finally had enough evidence to bring Erica to justice. It was initially charged with 12 counts, including murder, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, felonious assault, retaliation, grand

Starting point is 00:25:51 theft of a motor vehicle, gross of a corpse, possession of criminal tools, and tampering with evidence. Erica's initial trial took place in 2020, right at the height of the pandemic. He had testified via Zoom, confirming that Erica had orchestrated the fake pizza order. that lured Ashley to her death. They also acknowledged that Ashley had not left the parking lot alive that night, but Chad wasn't the only source of evidence against Erica. His daughter G, just 15 years old at the time, also gave a statement. Do you have a memory of Erica making a phone call?

Starting point is 00:26:24 Yes. Tell us about the phone call. I can remember her, and I remember hearing it, but not seeing. it and I know she ordered a pizza. I don't remember what she said that was on it. And I can remember that she did not use her name. I remember going to a dance where we had like the matching dress and I remember, I remember having good times, but then I also remember having bad ones. And the bad ones, do you know how frequently or often they were? I don't remember how often, but I just remember them happening.

Starting point is 00:27:10 All right. And what types of things are we talking about that you're remembering? She was mentally and physically. And how was she mentally? She would tell me that if I told my dad what she was doing to me, then she would do worse. And I kind of figure that's like mentally. And you said physically.

Starting point is 00:27:35 So what was the physical type? She would, I remember she would hold me on the ground and she would hit me. And then she also, before, made me eat dog feces. So let's talk about that. Do you know why she made you eat dog feces? Because she was jealous in my relationship with my father. With you, with who? With my father. With your father.

Starting point is 00:28:02 I'm going to ask you a couple, I'll say sensitive questions. Do you know why your dad is in prison? Yes. Why is that? Because he did some not so nice things. I'm sorry, ma'am. Because he did some not so nice things. Okay.

Starting point is 00:28:27 And is it your understanding that he did some not so nice things to your mother? Yes. All right, everyone. Welcome to Arco Rewards Orientation. I'm Hannah. Whoa, is everything okay? That's a code green. Someone just earned at least five cents a gallon in rewards. Wow.

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Starting point is 00:29:02 with $20 rewards dollars in your loyalty account. At participating locations, terms and conditions apply. Do you still love your dad? Yes, I do. Would you like to see him get out of prison soon? Yeah, he's my... Yes, he's my dad. According to testimony from Dr. Lisa Kohler,

Starting point is 00:29:32 the medical examiner who had performed her autopsy, Ashley had been brutally beaten, strangled with a zip tie so tightly that it cut off blood flow to her brain and possibly tased. She'd also been restrained post-mortem in order to move her body easily. This is evidence of post-mortem restraint. We're looking at the legs.

Starting point is 00:29:48 When we got Ashley, she was not as well-preserved. as a fresh individual, so she's starting to get some skin slop, so that's why you've got some discoloration there. But where you can see the blue arrows, there are lines there from something having been wrapped around her legs in the upper leg area and in the lower leg that was applied after she was dead. The lines there are kind of yellow in discoloration, and that's what you would see if somebody is very nearly dead or is deceased once you abrade the skin from a restraint. And when you received Ashley's body, were those restraints on her? No, sir. Do you know how they got off of her? No, sir. Now, you had mentioned post-mortem restraints.

Starting point is 00:30:28 The restraint that was around her neck, can you distinguish that from these? Yes, sir. The restraint around the neck was applied while she was alive. We have evidence of the bleeding deep into the neck, and we have what would be called a vital reaction with all the patiquia around her face, and the abrasions show changes that say that she was alive at the time that was applied, whereas these are very pale. there's no redness or anything there to suggest that they were on when she was alive. Is that something you would see frequently in the 3,500-plus autopsies you have performed, that somebody would apply restraints after the person was dead? We do not see that frequently.

Starting point is 00:31:06 I would assume, based upon the allocation of that, it's something that she used to help move the body. It's to provide a better handhold. And is that the only explanation that you could see or have you experienced in your training and experience for putting on restraints following the person's death. In the situations where I've seen that, it has been related to being able to move the body from one location to another. Thank you. Even though this was clear evidence that warranted Erica's sentence,

Starting point is 00:31:33 her defense argued that Chad's Zoom testimony violated her constitutional right to confront witnesses in person. In July of 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, which vacated Erica's conviction and ordered a retrial, which began in January of 2024, with Chad now testifying in person. The court proceedings were extremely difficult for Ashley's loved ones. During the retrial, the jury was shown graphic photos of Ashley's bruised and bound body with zip ties, stun gun probes, and wires wrapped around her. The images were so disturbing that Kimberly, Ashley's mother, actually passed out in the courtroom.

Starting point is 00:32:08 During her victim impact statement, Kimberly even cursed Erica, saying the following. My dear, well, I can only hope that karma will continue to take over from here. I wish for the things that you love the most to not be there when you need them the most as I have had to live without the one person I love the most when I needed her the most I hope there's always I hope they're always out of your favorite things in commissary

Starting point is 00:32:47 I hope you try to call home you land on everyone's voicemail I hope when you try to write home that only pins you have have no ink. And every pencil breaks with each new sentence. I hope those around you who finally got to see the real Erica for the second time will remove you from their life. And yet that's still not good enough. I can only hope that you will end up with a life sentence with no chance of parole.

Starting point is 00:33:22 This world will never be safe for you walking around here in it. You took everything from me the day you took my only child. Now I can only pray that the courts will take everything away from you by giving you life without a chance of parole. I miss you, Ashley. I did this for you. Ashley's daughter, G., who requested not to be filmed, shared her own impact. statement with the court. Despite being just 15 years old at the time, Majee showed amazing strength

Starting point is 00:33:57 and poise while confronting her former stepmother. The impact that Erica Stavanko has caused for me and my family is outrageous. I have to grow up with no mother. I can't celebrate Mother's Day. I can't be with my mom on the holidays. I can't call my mom when I have something exciting to tell her. I can't relate to her when something happens. I can't relate to anything. I can't relate to anything. that has to do with having a mom because I don't have one here to relate to. Erica, you killed my mother, yet you have shown absolutely no remorse for your actions. Not once have you apologized to the ones you've impacted. Not once have you shed a tear for just feeling a slight bit bad for what you've done. What is discussing is that you think you can get

Starting point is 00:34:45 away with everything again and go home and see your family, see part of my family. My half brother and sister have to now grow up with no mom by their side. Your children have to suffer because of your actions, but you have no remorse. We were all supposed to be a family. Sometimes couples break up, such as my parents did, but they go out and they find new love, which is perfectly fine. But never did I think I would have to go through the Disney experience of having an evil stepmom, but it turns out nothing is like the movies. You are untrustworthy, you're a liar, you're sickening.

Starting point is 00:35:27 But worst of all, you're a killer. You had a plan, and you followed through with it. You and Ashley were both supposed to be my mom. Now I have neither. When I was just a little girl, I had loved you. Through all the bruises, the lies, the jealousy, I still had love to give. I loved my mom, Ashley, but you did nothing, but you did everything you could to make your plan follow through, and it worked. As you sit in prison, I hope you think

Starting point is 00:35:57 about all the people you have hurt and all the remorse that you have yet to show. This world is safer with you being locked up. I can't forgive you for what you've done, and I have no reason to. You don't even ask for forgiveness. These are the consequences for your actions, Erica, and I hope you pray every single day to God for forgiveness because you won't find that out here. January 31st, a second jury found Erica guilty on all counts. Fortroom pack with members of both families erupted in cheers when Judge Jennifer Toll announced Erica's sentence.

Starting point is 00:36:33 With this, Mrs. Defenko, based upon the facts and circumstances, consideration of the relevant sentencing factors, applying the minimum sanction I've determined will protect the public and punish you without imposing an unnecessary burden on state or local resources, analyzing all the factors I'm required to analyze, including the seriousness factors, the recidivism factors, and all other factors before the court, including the following, the testimony of all the witnesses, the testimony of your co-defendant, the testimony of the victim's daughter, and your sworn testimony. Also taking into account the fact that you took the life of a young working woman who was trying to support her only child. The fact you

Starting point is 00:37:24 took the life of a young Army veteran who served our country and put others before herself, taking into account that you lured this young Army veteran mother into a dark parking lot late at night while in a car with four young children. And this is the most egregious part. That included the victim's own daughter. Also taking into account the secondary trauma that you've caused for individuals in the community, for jurors, for court staff, and everyone else who's had to review the pictures, the testimony, and everything that happened that night. Could you please stand, Mrs. Stefanko? The court is sentencing you to a term of life in prison without the possibility of court. Please maintain your decorum or you'll be taken out of the court.

Starting point is 00:38:19 Understood? Thank you. Again, the court is sentencing you to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole until after serving 30 full years of imprisonment. As part of your sentence, you must obey all laws, refrain from any offensive conduct, follow all the rules of the department. You are not allowed to use drugs and alcohol, and you may be tested for that. you must follow all the rules of the institution. Ashley was laid to rest in Akron, Ohio, following a chapel service that honored her life

Starting point is 00:38:53 in the impact she had on those around her. Her funeral drew family, friends, and members of the community who remembered her warmth, kindness, and the joy she brought to others. Her obituary, published by Billow Funeral Homes, reflects the love and sorrow of her family and community. She was our angel and will always be in our life. our hearts. On a memorial page on ForeverMiss.com, her mother Kimberly wrote,

Starting point is 00:39:20 To my darling, my angel, Ashley, my daughter, my life, my heart was given in my arms. God sent me an angel. I know you're watching me and your daughter. We miss you so much. I don't know how I go on not having you here with me. I love you, my girl. Can't wait to see you. Your mommy.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Ashley Biggs

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