WEBVTT - #333 Maggie Freleng with Ashley Jordan 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.880 A note for listeners, this episode contains discussion of suicide. 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:14.560 Please listen with caution and care. In May of two 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.040 thousand and eight, Ashley and Albert Deblbot welcomed their first baby, girl, 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:25.400 Mackenzie Leilani. The Deblebots were a successful military couple stationed 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.120 in Fort Benning, Georgia, and the birth of their daughter 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:34.440 filled them with more joy than they ever imagined. Once 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.240 they brought baby Mackenzie home from the hospital, the new 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:40.440 parents put her to bed and went to sleep. In 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.519 the early morning hours, Ashley and Albert woke up to 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.360 find Mackenzie in distress. Concerned, they took her back to 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:48.000 the hospital. 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.040 Maybe a couple hours later. The doctor comes in and 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:58.560 tells that she passed, and my ex husban hit the floor. 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.279 He started crying and screaming, rolling and I just kind 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:05.160 of sat there looking at the wall. And then I 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.480 looked at the doctor and said, go get my baby 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.040 ready so we can take her home. I think I 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.680 was just in denial and shop because you just didn't 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.840 tell me that my daughter was dead. And then Columbus 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.880 Police Department showed up, and that's when everything pretty much 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:28.080 went to hell. My name is Ashley Jordan. I spent 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.360 twelve years and two months in the Georgia Department of 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:35.360 Corrections prison system, wrongfully convicted the requme that I did not. 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:42.160 Commit from love of for good. This is wrongful conviction 0:01:42.400 --> 0:02:00.400 with Maggie Freeling today. Ashley Jordan actually Jordan, was born 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.480 in Laurel, Mississippi, on May thirteenth, nineteen eighty four, to 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:09.000 Brenda Dolores Jones and Thurman Jordan sr. 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:09.920 Oh. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.720 As they're growing up, let me tell you about the 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.440 little Poe. That's her nickname, Poe. 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:17.080 That's Ashley's mom, Brenda. 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:18.239 She was. 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.840 She was a sweet little girl. Didn't never have to 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:25.680 get no whoopings for nothing. She was shad and you 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:26.440 know I didn't take. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:27.320 Much of her to feed it. 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.000 Ashley grew up with three brothers in a military family. 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.800 After just a few years in Mississippi, Ashley's dad moved 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.640 their family to Detroit, Michigan. Ashley adored her dad. 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.320 My dad was very hands on with us. He always 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.440 made sure we showed love to each other as brothers 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:47.959 and sisters. He helped pray with us at night. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.120 Ashley's family loved any excuse to get together. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.280 Our family is very big and They liked to cook 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.880 out a lot, so there's a cook out for every 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.000 We love to get together and eat, So that was 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:03.880 one of the fondest memories I have from grown up 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.360 is being able to get together with our family members 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.320 and we eat and have a good time. 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.960 But behind closed doors, family life wasn't as picture perfect 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:14.760 as it seemed. 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.080 My childhood life with my mom and dad married was 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.680 very I like to call it chaotic. It was just 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:24.160 a lot of it was always a lot of arguing 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:28.959 going on. My mom was a heavy drinker and my 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.280 dad wasn't, so a lot of times that was a 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:38.640 problem because they bumped heads with a lot of things. 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:43.760 Her parents' marriage eventually fell apart, so Ashley's mom packed 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.480 up and moved with the kids back to their home state. 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:50.560 So we moved back to Mississippi in nineteen ninety two. 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.640 My mom got a job and pretty much just settled 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.160 us there. I don't think we understood as kids that 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.760 we were going to be living in in in Mississippi. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:02.760 I believed that we were just going to visit and 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.320 we were going to make home to Detroit. But we 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.600 started registering for school. It just kind of came out 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.640 of nowhere where we had to start over again as kids. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.720 Brendo worked hard as a single parent to make ends meet. 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.479 She and Ashley are close now, but at the time, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.960 Ashley wanted to get out of that situation. 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:25.440 To be honest with you, I didn't want to save 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.040 my mom anyway at that time because of her drinking. 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:32.240 I just didn't like it. All my other friends, their 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:34.480 moms didn't drink like that, So I saw a difference 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:39.320 in that pattern. Like I said, she was a great 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:41.840 mother when it came to taking care of us, It's 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.520 just the drinking was very It put a strain on 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.080 me and our relationship. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:50.600 Early on, Ashley opted to leave her mom's house and 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:55.159 instead live with her grandparents. However, things weren't much better. 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.640 Once she made the move. She started to notice similarities 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.720 between her grandfather's behal behavior and her mother's. 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.640 My grandfather, her dad was a heavy drinker, heavy drinker, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.160 was putting it lightly. He was an alcoholic. So I've 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.560 seen the pattern of where my mom where. That filtered 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.160 on then to her. So in the house of my grandmother, 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.680 we dealt with a lot of the same chaos. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.400 At the same time, she was facing these family troubles. 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:30.159 Ashley was also maturing and learning to live her own life. 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:31.479 Here's Brenda again. 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.760 And she grew up and got older. She saw coming 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:37.919 out of it and saw a door that she became 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:43.840 a cheerleader school stuff like that, played basketball Northeast Jones Tigers. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:45.640 Yes, Lady Tigers. 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.960 Mm hmm, Yeah, she was a basketball player. 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.080 Cheer leader with those five sixty legs. Yes. 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:58.440 Ashley also loved school. She was smart and ambitious. She 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.280 even had a career picked out for herself, one that 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.520 she admits was inspired by her own unique smile. 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.480 You've seen and I have a gap between my teeth, 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.760 and I've always been very fond of teeth. I like 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.520 teeth and how they look, and I wanted to be 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:14.240 an orthodonosis. 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.760 But Ashley wound up on a different path. The turning 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.159 point came one day when she was out shopping with 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:22.920 a friend and. 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.200 We were shopping at a place that was right next 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.560 door to the recruiting office for the aug of the 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.440 branches in the military, and it was a recruiter sign 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:32.960 outside smoking a cigarette. 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.280 Ashley was impressed by his uniform. She told him he 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:38.760 looked spiffy. 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:46.240 And he said, you want one? I said whatever, And 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:48.479 before I knew it, I was sitting in his office 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:54.320 looking at brochures. In my family, they always encourage you 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.119 to go to college, go to college, and I thought, 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.200 you know what, I've just been twelve years in school. 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.720 I don't want to go to college. He's not right then, 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:01.080 and I did. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.920 She did want to get a college education eventually, so 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.000 Ashley was sold on the idea that the military would 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:09.039 finance her ambition. 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:11.600 And all I can think was pay for college, Pay 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.280 for college. I didn't tell anybody I was joining got 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.360 into my mom. I didn't tell anybody. I just kept 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:18.360 it a secret. 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.360 After high school graduation in two thousand and two, Ashley's 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:25.560 friends started going off to college. 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:29.840 And my mom came to me one day and she said, so, 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:31.880 what do you got going on? And I said what 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:33.600 do you mean? She said, are you going to school 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:35.880 or are you going to start working or something? And 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:37.600 I was like, well, I got something else playing. She 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:39.680 said like what, Because you haven't said anything to me. 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:41.320 I looked up. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:42.760 One day my baby came home. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.120 She came home from work, said she was in to 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.280 join the Earth. I said, oh who. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.920 On the day she told Brenda the news Ashley brought 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.280 an army recruiter to her mom's house to meet and 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:54.600 talk about her plans. 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.080 So he comes walking up the driveway and she looked 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:01.120 at me and she just started She was so excited. 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.080 I said, are you happy, and she said, yes, I'm happy. 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.760 She said, this is a great career. My mom was 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.080 the most supportive person I had in my army career. 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.240 Ashley originally joined as part of the Army Reserve and 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.160 wound up stationed in South Korea in two thousand and seven. 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.120 She soon worked her way up to sergeant. Ashley loved 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.480 the military, and after only three months in South Korea, 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:34.480 she was about to find another love. Tell me how 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.280 you meet Albert. 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.960 By my first time. I was actually going into my 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.280 barricks room for the first time, and he walked by 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:46.840 and I complimented his calf muscles. He got some nice 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:48.920 calf muscles. And he looked at me and was looking 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:50.280 at me like, this girl is weird. 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.040 Albert double Bud was a mail clerk in Ashley's unit. 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:56.920 She would often see him around. 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.640 He was lower ranking and I was high, and so 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.640 he just kind of kept it professional, going back and 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:09.000 forth and beyond every guy at that unit was trying 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.800 to get my attention to talk to me, but he wasn't, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.679 and that kind of intrigued me. So I started to 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:22.240 like him and I kind of went after him, and 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.840 one day I stopped and talked to him, and we 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.040 started watching DVDs together and we realized we had that 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.000 we love the same kind of movies and the same 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.640 kind of music, and that's kind of where the conversation started. 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.720 And so I knew we were going on our first date. 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.040 So besides his cabs, what else did you like about him? 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.360 We weren't dressed. I have this I love the way 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.959 he dressed, and I realized that he was really nice, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.199 like beyond just being a soldier, he was a really 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:51.720 nice guy. 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.920 Theirs was a whirlwind romance, you know. 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:57.520 It was kind of quick, but I don't have a 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.199 time living on love. I'm gonna say that I'm the 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.240 kind of person that it's there, is there, and I'm 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.240 going to go for it. So we met, we started 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.680 dating August two thousand and seven, We got engaged September 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:10.120 two thousand and seven, and we got married over in 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:11.599 nineteen two thousand and seven. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.480 And the couple had more good news while still in Korea. 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.600 After their engagement, Ashley found out she was pregnant. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.960 I threw this pretticages in face. She looks, look look, 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.600 and he looked at me. He's like, what does this mean? 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.480 I said, it means we're pregnant. So we were super 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.200 excited to be having a baby. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.200 She and Albert wanted to have their baby in the States, 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.400 so Ashley was able to get an honorable discharge. 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:42.960 I want to be a hands on mom. I don't 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:44.840 want to be thinking that I'm going to be shipped here, 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.280 shipped there, and my kids are being transferred from here 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.000 to there. I just didn't want to deal with that. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:51.920 I'd rather be at home with my kids. 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.320 Before coming to South Korea, Albert had served in Iraq. 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.800 The newlyweds didn't want to worry about him being deployed again, 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.520 so they found a military base where Albert could be 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.320 on active duty without being marshaled out. 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.680 So that's how we wind up in Georgia because that 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.400 was the only due the station that was offering him 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:13.080 a non deployable status where he wouldn't miss the baby's 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:14.800 birth or I wouldn't be left alone. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.200 By March two thousand and eight, the young couple was 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.400 back in the States getting ready for the birth of 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.559 their baby a few months later. Albert was asleep and 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:33.360 Ashley was beside him in bed, watching TV and eating. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:34.880 Let me tell you what I was eating. I had 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.040 a tray full of food. I had chocolate chip cookies, 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.880 two peanutreater and jelly salwiches, a glass of milk, a 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:42.400 bowl of cereals, and grapes and strawberries. And I was 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.160 sitting there in the bed eating, and I was watching 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.280 George Lopez laughing, and I started having contractions, and it 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.880 got so bad that at one point I slung my 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.880 fists over on the bed because the contraction hit me 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.720 so hard, and I hit him and he said, what's wrong. 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:03.520 I think I'm having the baby. 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.800 They headed to Martin Army Community Hospital, where on May 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.640 twenty ninth, two thousand and eight, Ashley gave birth to 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:14.520 a baby girl, Mackenzie Leilanie. Ashley had always loved the 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.600 name Mackenzie, and Leilani was chosen by Albert, who is pollowin. 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.280 I've had Mackenzie name picked out since the ninth grade. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.480 I was super excited to name my daughter McKenzie. So 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.440 her middle name is Leilani and it means beautiful flower 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.160 and allowing culture. 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.000 After two and a half days in the hospital, Ashley 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.080 and Albert were able to take Mackenzie home. As for 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.840 many new parents, their first evening home was nerve wracking. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.280 I was afraid to go to sleep. My mind Frank 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.080 kept thinking, if you go to sleep, something's gonna have 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:52.079 She's gonna roll over, she's gonna smother. I don't know. 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.040 I was just very cautious. I was scared. My mom, 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.520 of course, you know, advice from older people was saying, Ashley, 0:12:57.559 --> 0:12:58.679 you can go to sleep. 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.280 And Albert was already asleep preparing to go back to work. 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.559 So Ashley relented and tried to get some sleep herself, 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:13.640 with Mackenzie in the bacinet next to the bed. In 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:16.840 the early morning hours of June first, Ashley and Albert 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:18.520 were both sleeping fitfully. 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:21.880 We were tussling in the bed and we both woke 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.760 each other up, and we both were dreaming. And I 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.440 looked at him, he looked at me. I said, I 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.400 just had the craziest dream, and he said me too. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.640 And then they heard Mackenzie fussing in her baconet. 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.000 I said, well, it's your turn to feeder. So he 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:37.440 was getting the bottle ready and I was getting her 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.959 out of the bassinette. I would tell him about my dream. 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.920 I said, I was dreaming I was faring through elevator shaft. 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:44.440 I said, but when I got to the bottom, I 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:46.640 woke up. He said, Oh my god, I was dreaming 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.640 if falling off a cliff. He said, but when I 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.120 got to the bottom, I woke up. And I said, 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:55.040 that's crazy. And we just started feeding her, and then 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.760 I noticed the lump on her head and I said, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:13:58.160 what is that. 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.920 Ashley called the hospital and spoke to a doctor about 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.280 the lump of Mackenzie's forehead, but the doctor said she 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:06.920 was fine. 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.560 So then we tried to feed her and she was 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.000 like she was gasping for air, like she just looked 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.680 she just couldn't breathe. And I called him back and said, 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:20.360 we're bringing her in. And by this time we're hysterical 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.120 because she doesn't look good. She looks like she's turning colors. 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.520 And we left everything at a disarray and we left 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.040 in such of her. We left our cell phones at 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:28.440 the house. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.280 Within minutes, Mackenzie had taken a turn for the. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:37.320 Worst, and we get to the hospital and before he 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:38.920 get me even stopped the car, I was jumping out 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:40.640 and I ran inside of the Mercy room and I 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.960 threw her out at the nurse and I said, please 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:44.280 help my baby. Something wrong. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:06.040 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:10.480 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:13.200 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.240 in the communities where they work and live. In light 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.200 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:23.680 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:28.040 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:38.320 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Ashley called her 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.720 mom from the hospital to tell her what was happening. 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.640 Brenda and her husband had already planned to come meet 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.960 Mackenzie the following day, but now she was racing to 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:48.000 get to the hospital. 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.160 We's trying to get them, trying to get the fans 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:56.400 Laku and she just as said, maybe I'm on the way. 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:00.920 We're erratic, we're scared. We don't know what's going on. 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.200 A couple of hours passed as the new parents waited 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.960 anxiously for news of their baby. Finally, a doctor came 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.400 to tell Ashley and Albert that Mackenzie had passed away. 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.240 Albert collapsed on the floor. 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.000 He started crying and screaming and rolling and I just 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:24.000 kind of sat there looking at the wall. And then 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.120 I looked at the doctor and said, go get my 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.120 baby ready so we could take her home. I think 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.640 I was just in denial and shot because you just 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:34.080 didn't tell me that my daughter was dead, and I 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:35.120 just didn't want to believe it. 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.880 And then almost immediately after Albert and Ashley heard the 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:44.560 news about their baby girl, personnel from the military showed. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.720 Up and I was a little weird about why they 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:52.520 were there. And then Columbus Police Department showed up, and 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:57.560 that's when everything pretty much went to hell, and in 0:16:57.640 --> 0:16:59.200 my mind framed, I was like, no, this is not 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.440 this is not normal. Nobody calls the police when somebody 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.239 passes away. This is not normal. She wasn't murdered. Why 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.919 are they here? And when they separated us, and the 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.080 kind of questions they were asking and the way the 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:14.880 detective was looking at me, that's when I was I said, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:15.760 they think we've done this. 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:26.720 Police took note that Albert was devastated, but that Ashley 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:28.520 wasn't showing as much emotion. 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.760 And at that time, I just lost a baby and 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.760 I don't know how to grieve. At this point, it 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.679 was just kind of unbelieved, like this was it was 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.119 like a nightmare happening before my eyes. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.760 But at that point police took Ashley back to her 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.560 and Albert's apartment to photograph and search their home. They 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:52.680 began questioning her about what had happened that night. 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.200 Where was I, like, what time I went to sleep? 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.600 How long was Albert a sleep before I to sleep? 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:02.960 When do we do that day? Who came to the house? 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:05.240 Things like that, they were asking. 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.000 Once the police were done at the apartment, Ashley and 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.680 Albert were left to process all that had just happened. 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.800 We couldn't even sleep in our room because her room 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.440 was right next to ours with all her stuff, so 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:29.360 we slept downstairs. We couldn't go up there. 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.240 By this point, Ashley's mother had arrived. 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.640 That was just that was two devils. That was just over. 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:41.920 That was too much. Oh and I asked he was just. 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:46.080 Crying and and aver he was just screaming that background. 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:48.480 She was stronger than he were, you know, asked, was 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.800 slow and he was just screaming and crying, and she said, mamma, go, 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:53.199 let me go, try to take care of you know, 0:18:53.280 --> 0:19:05.760 look after him. 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.760 The next morning, the police called and said the preliminary 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:11.840 autopsy report was ready and that the couple should come 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.760 to the station. Do you remember when you realized that 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.160 they thought that you and Albert had done this? 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.000 I realized that when they separated us, and then that's 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:23.280 when interrogation started. 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.040 Ashley was interrogated by Detective Andrew Tyner. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.399 I will never forgive him because he caught me a monster, 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.879 and he said the preliminary optoxic results said that she 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.800 died from blunt force trauma to they head and she 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:42.720 had multiple score fractures, and that we did it. 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.359 Ashley and Albert were adamant they had nothing to do 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.200 with Mackenzie's death and had no idea what happened to her. 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.920 Yet they were held and interrogated four hours. 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.240 Now, mind you, on postpartum, I just had a baby 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.520 and my breast are filling it with milk, and they 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.199 just sat there and interrogating me for hours and wouldn't 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.840 give me any feminine hygiene products. And I was bleeding 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:15.199 from having the baby, and they just sat there and 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:23.000 kept interrogating me, and so I didn't understand what was happening. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.840 So I just assumed that I would go home, like 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:28.880 I just thought that we would go home. I didn't 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:33.480 think it would be what happened for sure, though. We 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:34.240 didn't go home. 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.840 And eventually the detectives tried to turn Ashley and Albert 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:39.880 against each other. 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:43.080 If one of y'all just say y'all did it, because 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:44.960 both of y'all gonna go to jail, and both y'all 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:46.320 gonna go to prison. But if one of y'all just 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:48.240 say y'all did it, then one of y'all can go 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.080 home and help fight for the other one. That's what 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.160 they told us. But they made sure nothing was recording 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:57.280 when they did that. And he was about to say 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.720 he did it just so I can go home and 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.080 won't go to jail, and I looked at him and 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:04.919 I grabbed his hand and I said, no, you're not. 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:09.080 You will not lie for these people. He said, I 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:10.280 don't want you to go to Joel. I said, I 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:12.480 don't care. We're gonna go together then, and that's just 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:13.960 what it's going to be. I said, because we didn't 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:14.720 do anything wrong. 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:26.439 Ashley and Albert were arrested that same day. Did you 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:28.600 think it was possible that they could have done this 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.120 at all? Did you think that was possible? 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:32.000 Oh? 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:35.040 No, baby, I never even think twice, not even for 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.880 a split second, that they done something to that baby. 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:40.880 Oh they were They owned a child, and they had 0:21:40.920 --> 0:21:42.520 everything going for them. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:43.640 Are you serious? 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:47.560 They had everything going for them. 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:51.680 Ashley was charged with malice murder, felony murder, and cruelty 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:53.440 to children in the first degree. 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:01.520 And it was the most humiliating experience is being booked 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:06.359 into the county jail. They strip you of everything that 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:12.360 was ever yours. I'm bleeding from having a baby. They 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.080 don't provide you with any type of extra clothing. They 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:18.560 just give you. They give you their uniform and I said, well, 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:21.520 I don't have any underwear and I'm bleeding. But it 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:25.439 was like aus so we don't provide that. And they 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.520 set me in a cell and a cold sale for 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.480 hours on concrete, and then I got took a mug 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:37.280 shot and they put me in a suicide sale and 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:42.159