CRIME

Jury finds Tanner Flores guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping of Ashley Doolittle

Tanner Flores stands after being found guilty of first degree murder and second degree kidnapping at the Larimer County Justice Center on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. Flores has been convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Ashley Doolittle, in June 2016.

A jury on Wednesday convicted Tanner Flores of first-degree murder after deliberation, felony murder and second-degree kidnapping.

Both first-degree and felony murder charges come with an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Flores, 19, was accused of kidnapping and fatally shooting his 18-year-old ex-girlfriend, Ashley Doolittle, while the pair drove along roads in rural Larimer County on June 9, 2016.

After more than a week of emotional testimony by investigators, experts, friends and family of the teenagers, and Flores himself, the jury took less than a full day to deliberate.

They filed into a packed courtroom at the Larimer County Justice Center shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday and handed their verdict forms to Eighth Judicial District Judge Gregory Lammons, who read each charge and verdict aloud.

After Lammons announced the first guilty verdict, first-degree murder after deliberation, the assembled crowd sat in silence before some people broke into soft sobs.

Sounds of crying rose from the crowd after Lammons read each subsequent verdict. 

Flores did not visibly react as he listened to the verdicts that will presumably send him to prison for the rest of his life. 

Ann Marie Doolittle, mother of Ashley Doolittle, receives a hug as she exits the courtroom after a verdict is read in the trial of Tanner Flores at the Larimer County Justice Center on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. Tanner Flores has been convicted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 18-year-old Ashley Doolittle, in June 2016.

Doolittle, who would now be a sophomore at Colorado State University, was active in 4-H, an FFA leader and posthumously named the 2017 Boulder County Fair and Rodeo Queen. Her parents, Jeff and Ann Marie Doolittle, have since established the Ashley Doolittle Foundation — designed to preserve her legacy, raise awareness about teenage dating violence and honor her love of the family's western heritage.

Throughout the trial and in closing arguments, the prosecution argued that Flores was a calculating, jealous ex-boyfriend who planned to kill Doolittle. They argued that he took his father's gun from the family home and compelled Doolittle to meet up with him at Lon Hagler Reservoir and get into his truck, after which he shot her three times.

The defense countered that Flores was overcome with emotion and devastated by the break-up when he shot Doolittle, but it was an impulsive and hasty action that had no forethought. His defense team asked the jury to convict him of second-degree murder, which would have carried a lesser sentence. 

During his testimony, Flores told the jury that he did shoot Doolittle, but he didn't plan to do so.

"Part of me just can't really describe it," he said during his testimony. "It wasn't an intentional thing. It was just something that happened."

MORE: Daily recaps from the Tanner Flores trial

Doolittle's family left the courtroom immediately after the verdict and was unavailable for comment. Flores' family declined comment.

Bailiffs led Flores out of the courtroom, and Lammons will impose a sentence at 2 p.m. Thursday. 

Flores faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus additional years for the kidnapping charge. 

Last month, the district attorney decided not to seek the death penalty if Flores was convicted.

 

In Colorado, the death penalty is an option only for Class 1 felonies when the prosecution declares ahead of time in writing that they will seek it, which triggers a separate sentencing hearing after a guilty verdict is reached.

Only one person has been executed in Colorado in the past 50 years. Three people currently sit on death row, but Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper granted the man closest to being executed an indefinite reprieve in 2013, citing inconsistencies in the law's application and the difficulties in obtaining the drugs necessary for lethal injection, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

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About domestic violence

Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse by a dating partner each year. Girls and young women ages 16-24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence, and violent behavior often begins between the sixth and 12th grades.

About one-third of teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse, and 81 percent of parents either do not think or do not know if teenage dating violence is an issue.

Behaviors by a partner that are warning signs:

  • Checking your cellphone or email without permission
  • Constantly putting you down
  • Extreme jealousy or insecurity
  • Explosive temper
  • Isolating you from family or friends
  • Making false accusations
  • Mood swings
  • Physically hurting you in any way
  • Possessiveness
  • Telling you what to do
  • Pressuring you or forcing you to have sex

Source: Ashley Doolittle Foundation