True Crime with Kimbyr - Black Friday Horror: The Shocking Murder of Ashley Anne Harris

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

The holidays are a time for joy, family, and giving—but for Ashley Anne Harris, Black Friday turned into a nightmare. In this episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha unravels the shocking story of a young woman whose life was tragically cut short during what should have been a routine holiday shopping season. What led to this horrifying crime, and who was behind it? Join us as we dive into Ashley’s life, her close-knit family, and the chilling events that turned a day of deals into a devastating tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays are usually a joyous time of year. When everyone comes together, it's all about giving and being surrounded by people you love. But a lot of times it's also about shopping, especially on Black Friday. It's the time of year where everyone's looking for the best deal, and if you've worked in retail, you know how busy it gets. And of course you've probably heard of the stampede in different stores with people climbing over each other to get the best deal possible on items as simple as a TV. But what you don't usually hear about is someone being murdered.

But today's story is about greed, manipulation, and what happens when the holidays are filled with horror and not sheer. Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. My name is Kimberlea. If you've never been here before, it's nice to finally meet you. Today I'm going to be introducing you to Ashley Ann Harris. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 2nd, 1983. She was the youngest of three girls, born to Monica Cassidy and Thomas Harris. Her sisters were Carrie and Melissa. And for most people, it might be hard to stand out in a family of three girls,

but Ashley never had any trouble. Right from the beginning, her oldest sister Melissa knew there was something different about her. Melissa was 10 years old when Ashley was born, so she remembers everything about her younger sister. She recalls how she used to pretend Ashley was her baby when they were younger, creating a special bond between them.

In her childhood years, Ashley was described as being sort of a rough, and tumble kind of kid. She paved her own path in life and didn't care much for painting her nails and playing with Barbie dolls, unlike her sisters. She likes sports, music, and art. Despite not having too many shared interests, the trio still cared deeply for one another and spent a lot of time together. Ashley also had a special bond with her mother. Monica and Ashley would go to bingo all the time, just the two of them. It's where they really got to know each other and grow closer. They would spend hours playing the game and laughing and creating lasting memories.

At some point during her childhood, Ashley's parents divorced, and her mother, Monica, remarried to a man named Chuck. It was tough with all the changes happening, but Ashley and her sisters persevered and went on with their regular routines. The Harris family eventually found their way towards creating the even bigger, loving, blended family. Both Monica and Tommy remarried, bringing new partners into their lives and the lives of their children. Actually, over time, Ashley developed a very close relationship with her stepdad Chuck, and he became a very important figure in her life. She grew into a smart and kind teenager. Ashley was described as the kind of person who loved everyone and had a natural zest for life. She had plenty of friends and even a few boyfriends in high school.

She was one of those people and never had trouble making friends and meeting new people. She was never alone, constantly surrounding herself by people she cared about and that cared about her. Both her stepfather Chuck and her father, Thomas, were both law enforcement officers and everyone thought that Ashley would follow in their footsteps. She did express some interest, but at the end of the day, after graduating high school, she began working at Blockbuster Video in the meanwhile until she found out what she wanted to do. And it was there where she met a customer named Laura Love. Laura was a few years older than Ashley, and over the course of the eight months, the two of them got to know one another and became the best of friends.

Now, Ashley was the type of person that attracted both males and females, and she always considered herself straight. In high school, she had boyfriends. However, everything changed when she met Laura. Their friendship blossomed into something more, and during this time, Ashley began to question her own sexuality. She found herself drawn to Laura in a way that she never experienced before. The more time they spent together, the stronger their connection became. And sooner or later, Ashley couldn't deny the feelings that were developing towards Laura. So after much contemplation and soul-searching, Ashley came to the realization that she had fallen in love with Laura, and Laura shared those same feelings.

It was a revelation that excited but also frightened Ashley because it meant challenging the identity that she held on to for so long. As she began to explore her identity and become comfortable with it, she came to believe that she truly found a community where she felt comfortable. It wasn't that she was necessarily uncomfortable in her other friendship circles,

but it was like a puzzle piece just clicked into place, and she finally had a full picture of who she was. Despite her initial uneasy feelings and confusion, Ashley couldn't deny the deep emotional bond that she shared with Laura. And with time, Ashley and Laura decided to take the relationship to the next level, which meant,

Ashley would reveal her secret. She would fully commit to Laura and let the world know. When it came time to tell her loved ones, it didn't exactly go smoothly. Many of Ashley's friends were accepting and told her it made no difference who she was with. They were going to love Ashley no matter what. But when Ashley told her mother, it was a different story. Ashley got the courage to reveal her true self to her mom, Monica, and her stepdad, Chuck, in 2004. With honesty and vulnerability, she shared that she was,

was identifying as a lesbian and she had a girlfriend. In response, Monica expressed that deep down in her heart, she always knew this about her daughter. But Monica admitted that she needed time to fully accept and understand this new aspect of Ashley's life. Naturally, Ashley was hurt, but she agreed to give her mom some time. And Monica, she was deeply religious and she was struggling to reconcile the love she had for her daughter with the teachings that she knew from the Bible. So Monica prayed. She wanted guidance in the situation and eventually she came to a conclusion. God had given her Ashley and he wouldn't have done that if she was meant to just throw away their relationship. He would not have given her a daughter to protect and love and clothe and feed and then just take her away. So Monica decided that she loved

her daughter more than anything else and she couldn't imagine a world where they didn't talk anymore. So in the end, she and Ashley mended the relationship and resumed going to their bingo nights. and Ashley and Laura remained together. Laura Love revealed that Ashley was generous and caring as a girlfriend throughout the three years they dated. However, the relationship eventually did come to an end due to their divergent aspirations in life. Laura was older, she was ready to settle down and have kids, and Ashley was having fun, she was trying to figure out her path in life, and she had no idea where it would take her.

However, the two girls still hung out as friends, and they spent plenty of time in their mutual friend group. Despite parting ways romantically, Ashley and Laura managed to maintain a strong friendship over the years. And Laura recalled Ashley's excitement when she received the news of being hired at American Eagle Outfitters in the Hewlin Mall in Fort Worth, Texas in the fall of 2011. Now, Ashley loved this job. She liked it because she got to meet new people every day, and she also took pride in her work. Retail just suited her so well. And over time, she worked her way up to assistant manager at the Hewlin location. Her boss, Chris Cravey, said that she was one of his favorite employees.

Other people who worked at the store had nothing but great things to say about Ashley. One of them even commented that she would go the extra mile for any of the employees on her shift. She didn't just teach them about work. She taught them about life. And she was one of the happiest people they knew. I can actually tell from her pictures that she exudes that happiness and that joy. She's always smiling. And I can tell she's one of those goofy, fun people.

And that's exactly the way she was described. by friends. One of Ashley's remarkable qualities was her ability to inspire her staff. She had a unique talent for recognizing the potential in others, even if they couldn't see it in themselves. Ashley believed in her employees and encouraged them to strive for greatness. Whether through her words of encouragement or leading by example, she motivated her team to be the best versions of themselves. In addition to her life lessons with her coworkers, Ashley loved to document her everyday life on social media. The topics range from what she was wearing that day, whether she was feeling tired or happy.

And in fact, many of these videos were taken while she was on shift because she loved to share with her friends. Work was one of her favorite places to be, and it truly showed on camera. She was sort of a vlogger, and back then it was much more rare in the early 2000s. And looking at all the outfits she wore in those videos, it made me so nostalgic about those days,

I wore the same style. A lot of us did the Abercrombie or American Eagle shirts, the jeans with the holes in them, the trucker caps, It's such a blast from the past. But a few years had gone by with Ashley dating people on and off, but nothing really stuck. And one day in the summer of 2014, she went out to a restaurant with some friends,

and Ashley had been having a really bad day, and she wasn't in her usual chipper mood, and their waitress, April Moffat. She thought Ashley was so cute, and she was trying to get her to smile, but she didn't have any luck. At the time, April, not knowing Ashley at all, didn't think much of it,

and proceeded with her shift as usual. But Destiny, had a path for them. A few weeks later, Ashley recognized April and reconnected through social media. It was like the universe conspired to bring them back together somehow. When Ashley saw April on Instagram, she followed her. And then the two girls got to talking and decided to meet up and take their dogs on a walk. Ashley's dog, Nala was her biggest priority. No matter what she had going on in her life, she made sure Nala was taken care of. And April brought along her dog Cooper. April said that she and Ashley had an undeniable connection. She described Ashley as having a magnetic force

that made it hard not to love her instantly. After the walk with her dogs, Ashley and April were practically inseparable and soon they became a couple. And by the end of the summer of 2014, Ashley's life was going really well. She found herself content and fulfilled both in her career and her personal life. And she'd been contemplating a career shift. She was actually considering joining the Lost Prevention Department and American Eagle Outfitters. This decision was actually spurred by a robbery at the store. It happened on August 24th at 1 o'clock in the morning. It was all caught on video. A robber dressed in all black went behind the counter and took $18,000 from their safe. The robbery occurred the day after Texas tax-free weekend. Once a year, Texas allows people

to purchase certain items tax-free, like shoes, clothing, backpacks, and usually school supplies. And this is for parents to lessen the burden during back-to-school shopping. And because of this, tax-free weekend is one of the busiest times a year for retail stores like American Eagle. And they make more money than usual, and that is why the store was hit the next day. Ashley being influenced by her father's both stepdad and bio father's career in law enforcement, it inspired her to look over that surveillance video and work closely with loss prevention. to try to identify this perpetrator. She believed she could contribute to the company's safety

and security going forward, and she hoped that she could work her way up to a position and loss prevention. Meanwhile, there was something else Ashley was trying to work on, her relationship with April. Like most couples, the relationship had its ups and downs, and towards the end of November 2014, the two had decided to take a small break

to re-evaluate their feelings. The plan was for April to go over Ashley's on November 28th, or Black Friday, as most of us refer to it, the biggest shopping day of the year. The day after Thanksgiving, when all the biggest sales happen to prepare for the holiday season. Ashley and April planned to meet up so they could talk about what they wanted to do moving forward. However, the day before they planned to meet, they decided to postpone the conversation. Unfortunately, they would never get the chance to mend their relationship.

Because just before 8 a.m., on November 28th, Black Friday, a 911 call comes in from the River Ranch Apartments in the suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. That's the apartment complex that Ashley lived in. One of her neighbors, Patrick Sweet, who lived directly below her. The two knew each other. They were friends, and he had woken up around 7.30 that morning

to loud voices and a hard thump right above him. A few minutes later, he heard Ashley's front door shut, so he figured she was going to work. Patrick rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. But before he could, his carbon monoxide alarm started to go off. He was confused. so he began to investigate.

And this is when he noticed that there was water leaking from the ceiling of his bathroom. Putting two and two together, Patrick believed there could be a fire in Ashley's apartment. So we quickly called 911 to report it. Now, I have a little bit of this audio. I'm going to play it for you now. Patrick was not the only one that noticed something was wrong. By the time he was dressed and headed outside, a small crowd had started to form. Among them were friends of Ashley's all wondering what was going on.

One friend, Jeff Kaiser, decided. not to wait for the fire department. When he saw where the fire was coming from and it was his friend, 31-year-old Ashley Harris's apartment, he ran up to her door looking through the windows to see if she was inside. Just as he was about to attempt to open the door, one of the on-site maintenance workers came running upstairs and helped Jeff kick the door down. Immediately, Ashley's dog Nala came darting out of the apartment and luckily she was caught by bystanders before she could get very far. Now, Jeff and that worker made three attempts to enter the apartment and search for Ashley. They kept having to run back to the front door to catch their breath each time before trying to go back because the smoke was so

thick and water was spraying from the sprinkler system. Jeff yelled for Ashley as he crawled midway into the apartment to the kitchen before the smoke forced him to go back out for fresh air. They had seconds to search with each attempt, but the smoke was too overpowering for them to make any progress. I'm actually impressed with their efforts. risking their own lives for another human being. By 8 o'clock a.m., the fire department was on the scene. When Fort Worth Fire Department Lieutenant, Jared Pavlifco, arrived,

a resident told him that there was a possibility that someone was inside the apartment. But at that point in time, everyone who knew Ashley believed she was already on her way or at work, considering it was Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. They assumed she wasn't going to miss that. And they thought the fire had somehow started after she left for work.

Maybe the stove was up. on, a straightening iron, a candle, or something like that. But they were all trying to get a hold of her and let her know what was going on, but no one could get a response. They thought maybe she was busy opening the store. At least that's what they hoped. Firefighters were entirely unprepared for the scene that they would find inside Ashley's apartment once the blaze had been put out. The fire lieutenant could tell that this fire had started in the bedroom, specifically on the bed, which had been badly damaged. He opened a window to the room to allow all the smoke to clear.

It was actually easy for firefighters to tell that this fire was not an accident and that they needed to call the Fort Worth Police Department and get an arson inspector on the scene. Not just because they suspected foul play when it came to the fire, but because of what they found in the middle of the bedroom floor. On the floor in front of the bed

was a lifeless body of a female, and they could tell she did not die as a result of the fire. The fire lieutenant grabbed her arm, and that's when he knows that her wrists were duct taped. She had been bound and badly beaten after he was unable to detect a pulse. He radioed for a request for the police

and the CSI to come to his location. Then the team quickly retreated out of the apartment to preserve it as a crime scene. Ashley's friends were still waiting outside for some sort of update, and they weren't sure what to make of the firefighter's behavior. It wasn't until police showed up

and began to put crime scene tape around the building that it began to dawn on them that maybe they weren't able to reach Ashley because she had been inside when the fire started. Laura Love remembers how much she used to love Black Friday before that day in 2014. It used to be her favorite day of the year. She loved to go shopping and she loved a great deal. But that year changed everything.

She got a call from a friend telling her that Ashley's apartment was on fire and Laura was shocked. By 8.45 AM Wallace E. Hood Jr., a veteran arson investigator with the Fort Worth Fire Department was on the scene. And by that time, the fire in the apartment had already been extinguished. And during his investigation, he located multiple origins of this fire, including the bed, on the victim's body, and in the closet. He noticed the smoke detector had actually been removed and was underneath the mattress. In his professional analysis of the scene, he believed the ignition source was some form of open flames, such as a match or a cigarette lighter.

and he ruled out all accidental sources of ignition, concluding that this fire was set on purpose. As a matter of fact, he located an empty bottle of rubbing alcohol. It was found in the bedroom on the floor, and there were some liquid stains burned into the bed frame, as well as burn marks of a liquid pattern on the victim's body. It looked like the alcohol was used as an accelerant and poured directly on the various points of origin to start the fire.

Typically, though, most arsonists will not use, use rubbing alcohol for this purpose because it doesn't burn fast enough or long enough or hot enough to truly be effective. He also added that he thought the fire might have actually been an afterthought or at least not part of this person's original plan. Wallace believed this for two reasons. The first was the use of that rubbing alcohol as an accelerant, which again, not typical. And the second reason was that the sprinklers in the apartment were obvious. If someone had planned to set a fire and actually put thought into it, they would have looked for the sprinklers. These sprinklers helped stop the fire before it even burned away the evidence. So they would have knocked them down,

or maybe not even started this fire at all. The investigators thanked him for his time and used his findings as the foundation for their criminal investigation. One thing was for sure. This was an arson, and it looked like the fire was set to cover up a murder. Next, the homicide investigators were called in. When Fort Worth Detective Jerry Sedil, who was on call that weekend for Thanksgiving and his partner Ernie Pate arrived at the River Ranch apartments where Ashley lived around 10, 22 a.m. There was a crowd of her loved ones outside 40 to 50 of her friends, family, and coworkers were standing outside of the apartment. These detectives were not expecting that, and they had to get the situation under control. It was very emotional. They were all

waiting for news about Ashley. They wanted information, but they would have to wait. Once the scene was cord and off and secured, the detectives made their way upstairs and into Ashley's unit. Detective Sidil looked around in the living room, which was already decorated for Christmas with a tree and holiday pillows and even wrapping paper stacked up next to a wall like Ashley had been in the middle of wrapping gifts. But the detective didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Nothing that indicated a struggle had occurred in that area. But of course, he was directed towards Ashley's bedroom and he was immediately confronted with the sight of the victim lying on the ground. He could tell that her hands had been duct taped behind her back, and her ankles were duct taped as well.

She had been bludgeoned and suffered serious head and face trauma, possibly even tortured. They carefully turned over her body, and that's when they saw that her throat had actually been cut, and she had been set on fire. There was evidence of a very violent struggle. This was a gruesome murder. There was so much blood that had soaked into the carpet and actually appeared to have dyed it red. The detectives began to look around the apartment for clues and collect and mark evidence. Ashley's makeup bag and her wallet were lying open on her bathroom counter. Detectives matched the driver's license picture to the victim

and preliminarily identified her as Ashley Ann Harris. It didn't take long for the news of this fire to spread throughout the community. And word got to Ashley's best friend, Stephanie Naylor. Just like Laura Love, Stephanie got a call from a mutual friend telling her that Ashley's apartment was on fire. And she was like, what do you mean? So she raced over, concerned about her friend's well-being, and she joined that growing crowd. Among the people there was Ashley's boss from American Eagle, Chris Cravey.

And he kept asking authorities if he could speak to Ashley. But the response they received was that she was unavailable at the moment. So hours went by and they were still waiting, assuming that Ashley had already been taken care of or was being interviewed about the blaze. But all that hope was dashed when the coroner vehicle pulled up. Chris Cravey lost it. He knew what it meant in that moment. At the same time, the detectives walked towards a crowd and began asking them questions. The very first one brought Ashley's best friend Stephanie to her knees. Detective Sidio asked if Jeremiah 29-11 meant anything to them.

Stephanie fell to the ground. Her knees just gave out from under her. She responded, that's Ashley's tattoo. And sadly, it was true. Ashley was known for her tattoos. and she had already been preliminarily identified by her license, but also by a tattoo she had on the side of her body, her first initial and last name. But Ashley also had that scripture from Jeremiah 29-11 tattooed, and it read, quote, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." End quote." But Ashley did not have a future. Her life had ended.

And those words seemed so empty when all hope is gone and no future remains for Ashley. Her friends knew she was dead, but they didn't know how this could have happened. This is when the next phase of the investigation started. There were dozens of potential witnesses just waiting right outside, and they would need to interview all of them before they started to slip away. So police directed everyone who was waiting outside to go into the apartment's leasing office, and they made it clear that anyone who tried to leave without their permission would be arrested for not cooperating with a police investigation. One person was missing from the scene,

Ashley's girlfriend, April. Now remember, they had taken a break and they were initially supposed to reconnect that day to talk about their future together. That conversation was supposedly called off, but now Ashley's dead. So of course, one of the people on scene texted April around 1 o'clock that afternoon and simply asked her if she's checked on her girl that there was a fire in her apartment. And not too long after that, someone else texted April with call me. So she made that call. She was terrified that something happened to Nala, Ashley's dog, assuming that Ashley was at work. So she asked, is Nala okay? And the friend said, yes. So April asked, well, where's Ashley? And that's when the friend simply said, Ashley is gone. Well, this

didn't register with April. She was like, gone. Gone from where? The apartment? So she was like, well, is she okay? And that's when the friend was more clear. She said no. Ashley is dead. April was in total disbelief. She just threw her phone across the room because she did not believe this could be true.

Now, Ashley's mom, Monica and her stepfather, Chuck, were out of town when all this was happening. And initially, they were informed that a fire had broken out at Ashley's apartment complex, but they had very limited information and they hoped Ashley's unit was not affected. But then, Chuck, got a call from Ashley's biological father, Tommy Harris. Tommy had been informed by detectives

that Ashley had been killed. And now, he had the heartbreaking job of relaying this message to Ashley's mother and stepfather. Monica saw Chuck wiping tears away from his face as he spoke on the phone and she knew that her prayers that Ashley was safe had not been answered. This was just the beginning of the horrifying news this family would receive. Next to receive the news was Ashley's sister Melissa. Chuck tried calling her. but didn't get an answer, so he left a message with her husband. And he ended up calling Melissa, and by the tone of his voice, she knew that something was wrong.

So she shouted, what happened to my mom thinking at her mother's age that she could have possibly been an accident or died? But that's when she heard him say, it's not your mom, it's Ashley. She was not expecting to hear that. It was unbelievable. And at this point, the family had limited information about what had happened to their loved one.

it would be much worse than they could have ever imagined. Back at the scene, investigators were questioning Ashley's friends. Now, Detective Sidio noted that in the wallet where Ashley's ID was found, her credit and debit cards and cash were still inside, and no other high-value items were taken from her apartment. It seemed like the motive was definitely not robbery. So to Sidio, this meant that whoever murdered Ashley had known her personally because they had to have had an alternative motive,

one that appeared to be much deeper from the viciousness of this crime.