MEMPHIS — A Memphis woman who was on trial for luring a retired police officer to a robbery that resulted in his shooting death pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder.
Ashley Carver entered the plea during her trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the perpetration of robbery in the February 2012 death of Charles Jones. Carver also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in another case involving the fatal shooting of Valero employee Leonard Davidson in January 2012.
She was sentenced to 32 years in prison as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Carver was accused of teaming up with her boyfriend, Michael Dean, to rob and kill Jones and Davidson. Authorities say Dean is charged with killing two other people in a separate robbery-killing in December 2011. No trial date has been set.
Authorities said Carver, 25, lured Jones, 57, to a house she lived in with Dean and his relatives under the pretense of having sex. In his opening statement, prosecutor Ray Lepone said Carver and Jones had a relationship, though Jones was married to another woman.
Carver's attorney, Juni Ganguli, characterized his client as a prostitute who lured Jones to the house on Dean's orders.
When Jones entered the house, Dean shot Jones in the back of the head and the neck as Jones and Carver walked toward a bedroom, authorities said.
Dean, Carver, and another man who was in the house then cleaned up the bloody floor with bleach and put Jones' body in the trunk of his 2002 Lexus, Lepone said.
Dean and the other man, identified as Demetreous Santiago, then drove toward Jackson, where they intended to get rid of the body, Lepone said. But on the way, they were stopped for speeding by a law enforcement officer.
As the officer walked back to his vehicle to check their personal information, Dean and Santiago drove off, leading officers on a high-speed pursuit. The men evaded arrest and dumped Jones' body in the field, where they burned it, Lepone said. They later burned the car, authorities say.
Dean was arrested the next day, and he showed police where Jones' body was located, according to a police affidavit. Carver was arrested later and charged with helping plan and participating in the robbery-murder. Santiago has also been charged in the death of Jones.
Carver also pleaded guilty to especially aggravated robbery in the Jones case, and the especially aggravated kidnapping of Davidson.