Woman gets life in prison for helping beat up, bind, and set fire to coworker during robbery plot

[davidn3600]

FORT WORTH - 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.

Prosecutors called Carter Carol Cervantez the mastermind of a murder/robbery plot involving thousands of dollars.

Cervantez, who entered the courtroom shackled and looking frail, had testified that she had no knowledge of her co-worker’s killing, was asleep when it took place and was forced by her boyfriend to participate in a robbery.

But prosecutors said not only did Cervantez help plan and participate in the murder of Ashlea Harris, an assistant manager at the store where Cervantez and her live-in boyfriend, Clarence David Mallory, once worked, but that the two were also planning to rob their previous employer’s store in Abilene.

Chuck Cassity, Harris’ stepfather, read from a victim impact statement written by Harris’ mother and other relatives. After the verdict was read to a packed courtroom, Cassity said that the family, which has several members serving in law enforcement, has been waiting for justice to take its course and will return when Mallory’s trial takes place.

“What I would like to say is for every one of the last remaining days of your life, I want you to suffer as much as Ashlea did on the final day of her life,” Cassity said.

Police have said they believe that Cervantez, 27, and Mallory, 21, beat and bound Harris and then set her body on fire to steal her keys to the store so that they could take the store’s cash.

Harris’ body was found Nov. 28, 2014, in her apartment, tied at the ankles and wrists, facedown at the foot of her bed, which was blackened by fire.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article80191667.html

Mallory's trial has not yet started. He's facing the same charges.

[Liberal_in_LA]

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