Mallory is awaiting his trial on the same charges. So what was the motive for such a savage attack? Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Dr Fries testified that the injuries on Ashlea's face were caused by multiple blows. Cedillo went to the American Eagle store where Harris' boss was waiting for the owners to open up. He testified that the presence ofpetechiae in Ashleas eyes reflected asphyxia or strangulation and that afractured cricoid is: the least common place wesee fractures in asphyxia or strangulation-type deaths because it consists of cartilagethat is pliable.". Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Police found burn marks on her body and she had been strangled and her throat wasslit. Alexis left after4am. Ashlea Ann Harris was murdered Nov. 28, 2014, by Clarence David Mallory, 22, and his co-defendant, Carter Carol Cervantes, 28. She was wearing a grey sweatshirt and a black hat. The two. Ashlea felt that the perpetrator was Mallory. All were missing. What did they all have in common on Black Friday 2014? 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. Where Are Carter Cervantez and David Mallory Today? Update She was later found in her apartment complex. She came from a blended family. (Fort Worth PD) Harris, who was a manager at the store, had. CBS DFW - Fort Worth Police arrested two suspects in the | Facebook Combined Opinion from 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. The investigation revealed that the fire was not accidental and that rubbing alcohol had been poured in different areasthroughout the apartment including on Ashlea's bed. This was two weeks before Ashleas murder. However, things went awry after she hired a teen employee named Clarence David Mallory Jr., then 19, and started dating him, as per local reports. Water was spraying from the overhead sprinkling system, but Ashlea did not answer when he called out to her. The most likely thing that caused that was being pistol whipped.. Patrick was thinking about trying to find out what was going on when he heard Ashleas front door open and then close. Detective describes trailing defendant in Hulen Mall This manager did not close the store that night and did not appear to have the same build as the person in the video. Dr Richard Fries, a deputy medical examiner at the Tarrant County Medical. Defendant in American Eagle murder trial testifies | Fort Worth Star In reviewing the malls video surveillance Detective Cedillo saw Cervantez enter the mall wearing the same clothing he had seen her leave her apartment in. Detective Cedillo radioed dispatch and asked them to send a marked patrol call to the mall. Clarence David Mallory (age 19) had previously worked for American Eagle at their Amarillo location. 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. All were missing. Fort Worth homicide has ties to Amarillo - NewsChannel 10 He observed. She told Chris police were asking about an Infiniti G35. It didn't last long. Carter and David were convicted of beating, strangling, and bounding Ashlea and setting fire to her4701 King Ranch Road apartment onNovember 28, 2014, morning. Cervantez asked to speak to the regional manager about her firing, but in the end, handed over her store keys. Cops say Texas woman killed by former co-workers in sick Black Friday Ashlea identified Clarence as the person who took the money from the safe from the surveillance footage. The trial for the horrific murder of an American Eagle employee on Black Friday began this week in Fort Worth, TX. s asphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head and neck. They went to the store as planned on the Saturday morning with the keys but the lockshad already been changed. Fort Worth police, who had been staking out Cervantez s residence, followed the pair to the mall and arrested Mallory in his car outside after 3 Cervantez went inside. It showed Cervantez buying two shovels, a rope, bungee cords, gloves, and a tarp. She told police that she didnot leave the apartment complex at all that day. The comments below have not been moderated, by Chilling Crimes After Ashlea Harris pointed to David Mallory and Carter Cervantes as the most likely culprits to have robbed an American Eagle store, the couple was furious. reunited in Fort Worth and moved in together. | Sign In, Verdict Corrections Ashlea immediately contacted loss prevention, Chris Cravey, and the district manager. Police believed that Ashlea was killed between 4.15am and 7.30am. Text messages obtained from Cervantes and Mallorys phones showed them plotting Harris murder as part of a planned Black Friday heist. Police also found a damaged deadbolt lock,two other locks that had been used for practice. On the 24th of August 2014, at 1.14am, $18000 was stolen from the safe in the American Eagle store. Police asked Alexis if she knew who drove a black Infiniti G35. By The 31-year-old was an assistant manager at the American Eagle Outfitters store in the Abilene mall in Texas. Our district manager basically gave her the option to quit or to get transferred. Carter chose to get a transfer and was shifted to a store in the Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, Texas. Investigators believed Cervantes and Mallory were planning to rob the American Eagle store. Like Harris, Cervantez was an assistant manager. She and her. Police asked Mallory to see his drivers license which he told them he did not have on him. The Court heard that inJune 2014, Ashleawas appointed to run the store while Chris was on medical leave. Wallace also determined that the ignition source was an open flame. David, 27, is incarcerated at the Jim Ferguson Unit in Midway, Texas. They later found her at her apartment complex doing laundry. From what he could make out it was a female lying face down on the floor in front of the bed. Prosecutors laid out a case that Cervantez wanted revenge and payback for getting fired. A bottle of it found near the body. Does Alan Cumming Really Live in a Scottish Castle? Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about. She told the Court that she left Ashlea's apartment after 4am the morning of the 28th of November and that when she left, Ashlea locked the door. Kevin Rousseau, Tarrant County prosecutor, said of their crime: 'At a minimum this took at least a month of planning. Assuming that there may be a fire in Ashleas apartment he dialed 911. Police had to establish if they were involved in Ashlea's death what the motive was. Steven Lee was an ex-cop who lived downstairs and diagonally across from Ashlea Harris. The couple were arrested this weekend Cervantez in Fort Worth and Mallory in Amarillo on warrants accusing them of capital murder for Harris's slaying and theft $1,500 to $20,000 for the. She was tentatively identified by her tattoos. We may earn a commission from links on this page. He testified that when he entered the apartment, itwas full of smoke and water was spraying from the sprinkler system. In May 2016, 27-year-old Carter Carol Cervantes was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to The Dallas Morning News. She was inside getting some paperwork she needed to complete. He testified that he wokethat morning when he heardthe sound of the fire alarms. Carter Carol Cervantes worked as a store manager of an American Eagle Outfitters outlet in Amarillo, Texas. The Prosecutor,Kevin Rousseau,told the Jury: "There are no good murders. She was blamed as the mastermind behind the murder plot by prosecutors. At the apartment, detectives found a box containing a taser in the trash, strands of duct tape, and a damaged deadbolt lock. The Court heard the two of them returned to the mall at 8am and at that point, were being followed by the police, unbeknownst to them. The two reunited in Fort Worth and moved in together. 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. Benbrook man gets life for killing Hulen Mall manager | Fort Worth Star Harris hands and feet were bound with duct tape, police said. But surveillance video confirmed she was not being truthful and it showed her leaving the mall and walking towards her home. They are not hiding in shadows. At the police station, police observed that he was wearing a ski mask. Carter was a former employee at the American Eagle store where Ashlea worked but she was fired in August. Re: Carter Carol Cervantez v. The State of Texas - MoreLaw November 8th, 2018, Precedential Status: Chicwanda Forbes has worked hard to make a life for herself in New Orleans, until an older man offers her the attention she craves in exchange for her loyalty. At a minimum, this took at least a month of planning. None known, Docket Number: He thought that somebody had collected Ashlea for work. When Ashlea arrived for work she discovered that a theft had occurred sometime overnight. They were scheduled to make a deposit that morning of the proceeds from the Black Friday sales. But Tarrant County prosecutor Kevin Rousseau told the jury that Cervantez was the one who tried to control Mallory, whose trial is pending. A Friday. judgment. the Court. They discovered that on Thanksgiving Day, she went to dinner withher friendAlexis Torres and other friends at an apartment inside her complex. He went searching for the reason it was going off and then noticed water dripping from the bathroom ceiling. Precedential, Citations: Forth Worth was originally settled in 1849 as a US Army outpost to protect pioneers settling out west. Investigators determined the fire started in Harris bedroom and that rubbing alcohol had been used as an accelerant, despite its low flammability. When police looked at mall surveillance the video showed a person wearing a grey sweatshirt and black hat arrive at the security gate at American Eagle. Police have said they believe that Cervantez, 27, and Clarence David Mallory, 21, beat and bound Harris and then set her body on fire to steal her keys . One suspect in 2014 Black Friday slaying gets life in prison | Fort Cervantez claims that Mallory dug the grave for her. Then they turned their sights on Harris, who held the store keys, for their plot to make off with tens of thousands of dollars. These included a receipt for a cutaway practice lock that had been mailed to Cervantez & Mallorys apartment and a lock picking instruction manual. The State waived their right to seekthe death penalty and instead looked forlife in prison without parole. , updated She told the Court that she left Ashlea's apartment after 4am the morning of the 28th of November and that when she left, Ashlea locked the door. It matched Ashlea Harris' DNA. He testified that the presence of. As a result of his incompetency, he was fired, and American Eagle put him on the Do Not Hire Again list. The police also analyzed their mobile phones to find they had exchanged texts planning the murder and methods of disposing of the corpse. FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A woman charged in connection to the death of a former co-worker who was beaten, bound, strangled and set afire has been found guilty. The M.E. Please enter valid email address to continue. February 04, 2022, "The criminal justice system will take a hard look at what happened to Matthew Eappen. The Court heard about Ashlea's injuries. Officers found Mallory waiting in Cervantes car in the Hulen Mall parking lot and took him into custody. Carter's case was heard first. Mallory and his girlfriend Carter Carol Cervantez, 28, plotted to kill Harris Harris, 31, was the store manager of an American Eagle store in Fort Worth, TX Mallory and Cervantez bound Harris . The following opinions cover similar topics: CourtListener is a project of Free rely on donations for our financial security. Woman Convicted in Death of Former Co-Worker in Fort Worth arrived on the scene. Lets find out. Ashlea Harris looked to have severe head trauma. He forced her to enter and rob American Eagle at gunpoint and threatened to kill her family if she didnt do what he asked. She told the Court she did not kill Ashlea and played no part in her death. She denied being at the Hulen Mall that morning. They were not able to open the gate and promptly left.