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Her body was partially burned and she had been beaten. FORT WORTH, Texas -- A woman whose burned body was found in her Fort Worth apartment Thanksgiving weekend had been strangled and beaten, allegedly by former co-workers, according to court documents. Dr. Richard Fries, deputy M.E. Detective Cedillo decided to stake out Cervantez and Mallorys apartment arriving around 3:45 am on Saturday, November 29, 2014. arrived on the scene. They both pleaded not guilty. Communication between Mallory and Cervantez led police to a shallow hole in a town more than a hundred miles away. Chris looked at Clarence'spersonnel fileanddiscovered thatwhen Carterhired him, she changed his Social Security number and his name in the system so that it would not be detected or show up any red flags. It didn't last long. It was a black Infiniti G35 with a faded toll sticker on its roof. Wallace E. Hood Jr., an arson investigator, told the Court thathe locatedmultiple origins of the fire, including in the bed, on Ashleas body, and in the closet. Harris and other workers helped identify them as suspects, KHOU reports. Cervantes was allowed to go home. Carter Carol Cervantez is on trial this week on a capital murder charge in the slaying of Ashlea Ann Harris, 31, on Nov. 28, 2014, the day after Thanksgiving, known commercially as Black Friday. A. loaded Glock 19 with a bullet in the chamber was found under the driver's seat. He was able to determine that the fire had multiple points of origin. At that location, Detective Cedillo found what he describes as a human grave. At 7:45 am he witnessed Cervantez and Mallory exit their apartment and get into the black Infinity. Ashlea immediately contacted loss prevention, Chris Cravey, and the district manager. I said, Thats Ashleas tattoo,' said Naylor. He testified that at around 7.30am on the 28th of November, he woke when heheard a loud scream. She told the Jury that he controlled her and even told her when she could eat or drink. The surveillance video from the front of the American Eagle store showed that at around 2amonthe 29th of November, someone with a covered face knelt down next to the lock on the gate and attempted to unlock and raise the gate.They were unsuccessful as the locks had been changed. In the parking lot was a black two-door infiniti like the one seen at the crime scene. And Ashlea discovered that Carter was the person due to lock up the night it was stolen and had left the back door open. She told the Court she did not kill Ashlea and played no part in her death. It took them just two hours to find her guilty and she was sentenced tolife in prison without parole. But Carter never forgave Ashlea, with Leticia saying, She was the one that you wanted to like you because if you got on her bad side, there was no coming back from it. According to news reports, Carter was an assistant store manager at the time, along with 31-year-oldAshlea Ann Harris. Posted on May 27, 2016. But surveillance video confirmed she was not being truthful and it showed her leaving the mall and walking towards her home. The key opened the dressing room and storage closet at Hulen Mall American Eagle. Cravey indicated that he did. Protect yourself and those you love. Harris friends told investigators that she had been working around the clock in anticipation of the Black Friday sales event which started that morning. ", by Chilling Crimes s asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head and neck. He was eventually labeled as non-rehirable in the American Eagle system. Cervantez was recently found guilty of her involvement and sentenced to life in prison without parole in May 2016, reported the Star-Telegram. 1 Comment, "My family and myself are good, decent and very honest people. Shes the one that coordinated everything and came up with the plan.As per official court records, she, 34, is serving her sentence at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas. On December 4, 2014, arrest warrants were issued for Carter Carol Cervantez and Clarence David Mallory Jr. While they were let go initially, the investigators had search warrants for their apartment and car. Ashlea Ann Harris was murdered Nov. 28, 2014, by Clarence David Mallory, 22, and his co-defendant, Carter Carol Cervantes, 28. At Clarence's Trial, he claimed that he was not involved in Ashlea's murder but the Jury also did not believe him and he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Patrick thought that perhaps someone had come to pick Ashlea Harris up for work as her pick-up truck remained in its parking space. Carter and David were convicted of beating, strangling, and bounding Ashlea and setting fire to her4701 King Ranch Road apartment onNovember 28, 2014, morning. He observedthat the smoke detector had been removed and was underneath the mattress. She was tentatively identified by her tattoos. Video surveillance of the mall showed that at 2 am on Saturday morning someone tried to open the security gate at American Eagle. They found a lock in a kitchen drawer and a TASER box and some strands of duct tape in the trash. When she tried to call her back Ashlea didnt pick up. David, 27, is incarcerated at the Jim Ferguson Unit in Midway, Texas. 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. Police retraced Ashlea's movements. Fired One week later Cravey called Cervantez. Ashleas friend Alexis, who was the last to see her at close to 5 am, told police that Ashlea usually left her keys and wallet on her kitchen counter. She was inside getting some paperwork she needed to complete. Jeffcrawled midway to the kitchen before he was forced to get out for some air. Clarence and Carter wereboth charged with capital murder. The Prosecution claimed that person was Carter. Patrick testified that he thought about what he should do. While Cervantes moved six hours away to Fort Worth, Mallory stayed in Amarillo. This case has not yet been cited in our system. I didnt touch it. There was no smoke in her lungs indicating she was not alive when the fire was set. We Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. . Carter's case was heard first. He was also fired per store policy. | Link Errors A key belonging to another assistant store manager was left in the night deposit box. According to local news reports,the opening manager discovered $17,850.32 had been stolen from the safe. Prosecutors also showed evidence that Cervantez and Mallory were planning to rob the American Eagle in Abilene (where they had previously worked). He moved to Ft. Worth and reunited with Carter, who allegedly falsified his social security number to cheat the system and get him employment at the Ft. Worth store. Her name was Carter Carol Cervantez. January 17, 2022 Via the Star-Telegram: Cervantez testified that she and Mallory went to Cleburne and rented a motel room on Nov. 28, but later that day Mallory had her drive to Hulen Mall while he toyed with a 9 mm Glock handgun he held in his lap. 'They slash her throat and then, when she is finally dead, they set her place on fire. Carter was a former employee at the American Eagle store where Ashlea worked but she was fired in August. Cervantez is being held in the Fort Worth Jail. They also found another lock labeled lock picking practice lock. Nobody knew for certain whether Ashlea was inside or not. She transferred to the Hulen Mall location and held an assistant store manager position. They founda plastic tub that contained bungee cords and arope. Chicwanda Forbes gets the attention she craves from an older man in exchange for her loyalty; Carter Carol Cervantez begins to rethink her priorities when she finds love at the workplace. Filed: He testified that when he entered the apartment, it, was full of smoke and water was spraying from the sprinkler system. , updated On May 26, 2016, twenty-seven-year-old Carter Carol Cervantez was found guilty of capital murder. Please enter valid email address to continue. One week later Cravey called Cervantez. He thought that somebody had collected Ashlea for work. The Autopsy revealed that Ashleahad numerous injuries on her body including but not limited toa laceration on the right side of her scalp, on her cheek and the left side of her face and a patterned bruise on the right side of her face, a bruise between her eyes and around her left eye. She is described by the store manager, Chris Cravey, as being a phenomenal employee who was loved by everyone.. Firefighters found her strangled and burned body early in the morning on Nov. 28. A few minutes later, Patrick's. He was able to unlock the trunk of Mallorys Cadillac using keys found in the black Infiniti. A woman suspected of helping kill a former co-worker on the shopping day known as Black Friday in 2014 was found guilty of capital murder Thursday and will spend the rest of her life in prison.. After work, Ashlea returned to herapartment around 3.15am and Alexis called over for a few minutes. The couple had been fired from the American Eagle store at the Hulen Mall after being suspected of stealing nearly $18,000 from the store's safe in August 2014. Surveillance footage from the Hulen Mall captured Cervantes trying to break into the American Eagle store on the morning of November 29 with Harris stolen keys, unaware that the locks had been changed. A downstairs neighbor, Patrick Sweet, was lying in bed when he heard a loud scream. Mallory and Cervantez reportedly also stole $18,000 from the same store in August of 2014. our Backup, Combined Opinion from Carter's testimony also included an account of a time that she claimed she was raped by two men. He had looked at his alarm clock and saw the time was 7:30 am. Ashlea Harris worked as an assistant store manager for American Eagle Outfitters located in the Hulen Mall. Helived downstairs and diagonally across from Ashlea. The Court heard that the car was still there when Steven left for work after 7.30am. They told authorities Harris usually left her keys on the kitchen counter, and that her home and car keys were on the same keychain as the keys to the American Eagle store where she worked. Harris autopsy pointed to a rage killing. Upon searching Mallorys cell phone there were text messages that contained latitude and longitude coordinates. Kevin Rousseau, Tarrant County prosecutor, said of their crime: 'At a minimum this took at least a month of planning. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition, we got Ashleas DNA on this gun that was in Carter Cervantes car, said Kevin Rousseau. Both Mallory and Cervantez are questioned and released despite both being caught lying and contradicting each other. A break came when one of Harris neighbors told police that on the morning of the murder, he noticed a black, two-door Infiniti parked in the apartment complexs parking lot which didnt belong to any of the residents. So he laid back down to try to fall back asleep, but thats when the carbon monoxide detector went off. He observed. Jeff Kayser to testify. One of her former co-workers, Leticia Groen, explained, They werent supposed to be dating because she controlled his pay, she controlled how much he worked, and she would just give him more preferential treatment. It was approximately 6 ft. long, 2 ft wide and 3 feet deep. She said that he held the gun up to her and told her to do it and that he also claimed there was somebody waiting outside her parent's home and they would be killed also if she didn't steal the money. The district manager decided to give Cervantez a fresh start. Around 7:30 am several residents of the River Ranch Apartments located at 4701 King Ranch Road called 911 to report smoke coming from apartment #1505. Today it marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. He continued to lie in bed wondering what was going on in his upstairs neighbors apartment (Ashleas apartment). FWPD Fort Worth Police Department FORT WORTH Pictures of tools that could be used to pick locks, the front cover of the book Practical Lock. Another neighbor also told police something disturbing. They are not hiding in shadows. Once there, she re-hired Mallory. The 31-year-old was an assistant manager at the American Eagle Outfitters store in the Abilene mall in Texas. While Cervantes moved six hours away to Fort Worth, Mallory stayed in Amarillo. By 2011, she was an assistant manager at an American Eagle Outfitters store at Fort Worths Hulen Mall. It was a black Infiniti G35. It was a latenight due to Black Friday sales and Alexis looked after Ashlea's dog Nala while Ashlea was working. They were scheduled to make a deposit that morning of the proceeds from the Black Friday sales. out-of-date, incorrect offense/sentence details, record expunged, etc), please send an email to: Violent Offenders: Evidence and Treatment, Prison Suicide: Methods, Risk, and Prevention, Executions and Execution Rates (by State), Childhood Psychopathy Scale (CPS) (41-Item Version), Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Jung Self-Rating Scale for Depression (SDS), Borderline Personality Disorder Self-Report, California Psychological Inventory (Socialization), Correctional Mental Health Screening for Men, Black Guerilla Family: Prison Gang Profile, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7), Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-COG), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Geriatric Depression Scale (Short Form) (GDS-SF), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD or HAM-D), Ohio Risk Assessment System - Pretrial (ORAS-PAT), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), University of Rhode Island Change Assessment(URICA), Christina Melton Crain Unit Prison, Texas Inmates & Offenders, https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=50612977, Search is on for inmate accidentally released from Colorado jail, Search for Escaped Inmate in Ellis County, Search underway after inmate escapes in Sabine Parish, Three inmates escape Athens County correctional facility, one apprehended, Man Accused of Helping Callahan County Inmate Escape Self-Surrenders, Oklahoma DOC unveils new inmate search feature, Search continues for Inmate who escaped from Lawrence County work release, Correctional Facility or Supervision Authority, Department of Corrections Inmate / Offender Record.