The Misery Machine - The Story of Ashley Hollingsworth

Starting point is 00:00:00 March 27th, 2022. Just after midnight, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a strange call. The caller claimed a newborn was brought into the Emergency Department of Mountain View Hospital. The father, whose name has been redacted from official reports for his privacy, stated that the baby was born at home, that the mother had refused to enter the hospital. The mother, later identified as 23-year-old Ashley Hollingsworth, was last seen walking southbound through the hospital parking lot. It was believed that Ashley was bleeding profusely, so time was of the essence.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Officer Peck responded to the call and secured the couple's vehicle whilst waiting on a search warrant. Additionally, the officer reviewed security footage of the couple arriving at the hospital, confirming that Ashley had fled the scene on foot. Officer Peck and other officers initiated a search for Ashley, which included the police's missing person's detail. Eventually, Ashley was located by Officer Dambroggio approximately two and a half hours later. She had walked a mile and a half down north to Naya away and was found per Google Maps at a Chevron gas station. Ashley was dressed in gray sweatpants with a large blood stain on her crotch. Her sweater was pulled over her face, exposing herself.

Starting point is 00:01:19 Fearful of the officers, Ashley refused to remove the sweater from her face. Officer Dambroggio detained Ashley and removed the sweater. exposing a large contusion to the left side of her head. Paramedics transported her to university medical center on Charleston Street to be treated for her injuries. An emergency medical specialist at UMC trauma, Dr. James Pretti, stated no fractures to Ashley's skull were found, and that there were no significant findings in the CT scan of her head. He also stated that it was very possible that her injuries could have been self-inflicted. While at UMC, Ashley told police and hospital staff,

Starting point is 00:01:57 that she had been beaten up by a rock. Additionally, Ashley continuously talked about prophecies and other religious ideations with the nursing staff. At that point, officers knew that they were dealing with a much more serious situation, and detectives were requested to assist in a possible CA investigation. At approximately 5 a.m. the same day, Detective Hanning of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Starting point is 00:02:22 interviewed Ashley's boyfriend, who was still at Mountain View Hospital with their newborn. He told detectives that the two of them lived together in an apartment located at 355 East Prim Boulevard in the small casino town of Prim which is located on the Nevada California line. Prim is something of a stopover for those traveling to and from Vegas from California. You'll remember it from her Cherise Iverson episode. On Friday, March 25th, he and Ashley traveled to Las Vegas to stay with his aunt and uncle, Gill and Ruby Avanzato. The purpose of the trip was so that way Ashley could be closer to a hospital while they would, waited for their baby to be born.

Starting point is 00:02:58 Even though the distance between Prim and Las Vegas is only a 41-minute drive down Route 15, it's 41 minutes of desert, and there were no closer hospitals. That same night, he took Ashley to Mountain View Hospital after she believed that she was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. Ashley believed that the nurses at Mountain View were being mean to her, so he took her to Centennial Hills Hospital. There, she was seen and eventually discharge at approximately 3.30 in the morning, on March 26.

Starting point is 00:03:27 The boyfriend went on to tell the detective that he had left Ashley with his aunt Ruby, but his aunt soon called him telling him to come home immediately. She was concerned because Ashley was saying some pretty strange things. When he arrived home, Ruby told him that Ashley believed that her baby was evil. At around 7 p.m. that evening, Ashley asked him to punch her in the face. When he refused, Ashley allegedly punched herself two, times on the right side of her face with a closed fist. However, she did not leave any marks. She also stated that she was ready to go to heaven. He said a short time later, Ashley laid down

Starting point is 00:04:08 next to him and thanked him for not punching her in the face. At around 10.55 p.m., Ashley awoke saying she needed to use the bathroom. He stated that he heard what he described as Ashley pushing, but simply thought she was straining while making a bowel movement. Around three minutes later, he heard a baby crying and promptly entered the bathroom. He said he observed Ashley standing, facing away from the toilet with a confused look on her face. The baby was laying on her back inside of the toilet. The father picked up the baby whose head had thankfully not been submerged in the water. Now, around this time, Ashley delivered what he believed to be her placenta. He claimed that the umbilical cord had been severed and then flushed down the toilet. The

Starting point is 00:04:54 father brought Ashley and their newborn baby girl to Mountain View Hospital. While in route, Ashley held her baby in her lap wrapped in a pink blanket. Somewhere near West Craig Road in North Decatur Boulevard, he realized that his daughter had stopped crying. The father looked over and saw that Ashley had wrapped the pink blanket around the baby's head and was pushing it against her tiny face. He managed to get her to stop and Ashley claimed the newborn was a devil baby and that she needed to kill it. A short time later, he noticed that the crying had stopped once more and observed that Ashley was yet again attempting to smother the baby girl. This time he took the baby from her arms and held her on his lap for the remainder of the car ride. He estimated that Ashley had smothered their baby for approximately 10

Starting point is 00:05:40 seconds. When they arrived at the hospital, Ashley retrieved a black Adidas bag from the vehicle and fled on foot down to Naya Way. The father let her go. He decided it was far more important that the baby be seen for medical treatment. She was admitted to the hospital where medical staff were concerned that she had suffered a brain bleed and a brain injury due to the lack of oxygen. However, it was later determined that thankfully, she was unharmed. At around 6 a.m., detectives received a search warrant

Starting point is 00:06:08 for the maroon 2014 Ford Edge that the couple had arrived in. Numerous bloodstains were located inside the vehicle, including on a towel. Additionally, detectives were given consent to process the Avanzato home. After speaking with the baby's father, Detective Hanning spoke with the nursing staff at Mountain View Hospital in order to collect additional evidence. Charge nurse Rosanna Passientini provided the detective with both the pink blanket she'd been wrapped in, as well as a yellow baby shirt. Both had been stained with blood. At around 9 a.m. the same day, detectives Hanning and Garrett also conducted interviews with Gil and Ruby Avanzato.

Starting point is 00:06:44 Now, the couple confirmed that Ashley had given birth in their guest's bathroom and that she had been acting abnormal, prior to giving birth. Ruby stated that Ashley had claimed that there was something evil in her stomach and that it was trying to kill her baby. On March 29th at 1030 a.m., Detective Hanning conducted a recorded interview with Ashley at UMC. She was read her Miranda rights to which she claimed to have understood. Ashley confirmed her identity and stated she had two other kids, both of which lived with their father in California. She'd been with her current boyfriend for two years. She had been prescribed medication to treat her condition. However, she had not taken that prescription during her pregnancy. Ashley said that although she did not have any medical

Starting point is 00:07:26 complications during her pregnancy, there was a spiritual battle going on inside her. She went on to explain that she had to hold her breath and pinch her nose to make her body hot enough for Jesus to fight the devil inside of her. She went on to say that Jesus was fighting the devil in an attempt to send the devil to hell. Ashley said that Jesus worked good magic on her baby and that her baby was now okay. She then went on to describe how her baby was born in the toilet. She was bothered by the fact that the baby was clean and not covered in white stuff as she described it. She repeatedly questioned whether the baby was an innocent angel due to being born outside the presence of doctors and due to the fact that she wasn't crying. When Ashley left the house to go to the hospital, she admitted that she was

Starting point is 00:08:12 feeling okay. However, as they were driving, she stated that she felt triggered. She recalled, thank this baby's kind of probably evil. She went on to question whether or not she was a good baby because according to Ashley, babies should be crying when they are born and should not be as clean as hers was. She went on to state that she thought that she had an evil baby because the baby was flicking her tongue at her

Starting point is 00:08:37 and making grunting sounds. She also added that her eyes were black and that she was not making eye contact. Finally, Ashley was upset by the scent of her baby. She described the scent as abnormal, like something not good. After seeing the baby's eyes, smelling what she described as an abnormal sense, and hearing the baby grunting at her, it was then that Ashley decided to put a blanket over her head.

Starting point is 00:09:03 She stated that she had held the blanket tight as the baby kept grunting at her, but claimed that she had to let it go because she didn't want her daughter to die. In the beginning of the interview, Ashley told police that she only wrapped the blanket around the baby to hide her face. but later admitted to pinching the blanket several times. She admitted that she knew if she continued to do this, her baby would die. She told the detective that she would feel regret for the rest of her life if she would have killed her daughter. In a later interview, Ashley stated that she had not been truthful in her description of what had happened on the way to the hospital. Ashley admitted to the detective that she felt that her baby was going to start doing things to everyone, start making people kill one another.

Starting point is 00:09:45 Due to this, she felt like she needed to take her out. She admitted that she attempted to kill her baby two times by wrapping the pink blanket around her head and pinching her nose. On the second attempt, the baby's father intervened. She continued by stating that the baby wasn't making her do anything and that she had acted on her own accord. It was her own decision to try to kill her daughter. Now, when Detective Hanning asked her why she hadn't been truthful prior, she admitted that she was feeling guilty and didn't want to get into trouble. However, Ashley claimed that she ran away from the hospital as she felt the need to self-harm

Starting point is 00:10:19 due to the fact that she thought that she hurt her daughter. On the other hand, she claimed that she thought that her baby would somehow follow her and hypnotize her. Due to this, Ashley claimed she felt the need to remove her clothing, later finding new clothes in a tunnel as she ran away. Soon, Ashley made the decision to end her own life. She found a rock which she described as being about 10 inches in diameter and repeatedly smashed it into her face and head approximately 15 times. As she was hitting herself, she remembered thinking,

Starting point is 00:10:49 why am I not dying? She described being a little dizzy, stating that she hit herself hard enough to lose consciousness, but never did. In speaking to the events that transpired after her daughter was born, Ashley stated, quote, I felt like I was guilty for it. I was fighting it. I was fighting that battle not to do it.

Starting point is 00:11:07 And that's why I ran and hurt myself, end quote. For the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and declaration of arrest report, Ashley was charged with attempted homicide in first-degree CA or neglect. She was arraigned on Monday, April 4, 2022 at 8.30 a.m. and was held without bail until her arraignment. Surprisingly, there hasn't been any additional information released about Ashley's case. We've checked numerous inmate listings for both Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, and the

Starting point is 00:11:34 surrounding areas, but there isn't a listing for an Ashley Hollingsworth anywhere. Social media did provide some clues, however. Ashley's Facebook had been updated with a new cover photo as recently as November of this year, and her bio lists the dates of birth for all three of her kids. It would be reasonable to assume that she's probably out on bail at this time. Her Facebook displays a beautiful young mother who took pride in her appearance, with family and friends that clearly adored her, with pictures of her two little ones, a son and another daughter.

Starting point is 00:12:03 So what makes a seemingly normal mother of three suddenly snapped to the point where she thinks she's carrying an evil baby? Throughout our body of work, we've spoken at length about postpartum depression and psychosis, which occurs in roughly one to every 1,000 deliveries. The onset is usually sudden and symptoms can include delusions, paranoia, or hallucinations, among others. The most significant risk factors are a personal or family history of bipolar disorder or a previous psychotic episode.

Starting point is 00:12:30 Now, was Ashley suffering from postpartum psychosis? It's certainly possible. This case leaves us with so many more questions than when we had started. We'll certainly keep an eye out for update. as they come out, but so far it looks like this case is being kept pretty quiet. One thing that can be said for certain, however, it is a blessing the baby's father managed to wake up as Ashley was giving birth. Who knows what would have happened to that baby girl if he hadn't.

The Misery Machine - The Story of Ashley Hollingsworth

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