A Colorado woman conspired to kill her boyfriend and attempted to drown and burn his cat, local officials say.
Ashley White, 29, has been convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and robbery in the 2020 shooting death of Cody DeLisa, 28, after a three-week trial this month.
The couple had a strained and volatile relationship in the months leading up to the murder, the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a news release last week.
DeLisa criticized White for not being able to obtain full-time employment. Their arguments created tension in the relationship, prosecutors said. White wrote in her diary that she regretted ever meeting DeLisa.
Before his death, she became increasingly frustrated and tried to drown the man’s cat, causing people to become concerned with her mental well-being.
Her frustration escalated after an incident in which she attempted to drown and burn DeLisa’s cat, an incident that raised alarms about her mental well-being.
In 2020, she attended a job interview in Denver. A neighbor drove her to the city and she took the bus home. She texted DeLisa about her experience and he responded saying he was skeptical about her getting the job, upsetting her.
On the bus, White reportedly met a man named who identified himself as “Scott.” He asked if White was in a relationship and whether her partner had raped her. When she responded he had, he said they should kill him. The man had a firearm on him at the time, the release states.
He and White got off the bus some distance from the woman’s home. They spent some time together and fired the man’s gun. Together, they walked to the woman’s residence in Adams County where the man introduced himself to DeLisa and his girlfriend’s brother from Texas.
DeLisa was later shot twice in the head. Officials discovered his body the following day during a welfare check.
The alleged assassins then stole DeLisa’s wallet and left the residence. They spent the next few days in the area before Scott departed. Prosecutors say they never saw each other again.
White would later be identified as a suspect in the murder. She spoke with investigators and provided a “detailed account of the events that led to DeLisa’s death,” officials say. Police arrested and charged her.
Roughly three years after the shooting, a woman notified police that she believed she was dating the man known as “Scott,” whose real name is Michael Stratton.
He had confessed the crime to her and police said the confession matched White’s account of what happened. At the time, Stratton was in custody for the murder of a man in Pueblo, Colorado, which police say occurred after DeLisa’s death.
He has not been charged in Adams County and has been deemed incompetent to stand trial in the Pueblo murder.
White’s trial began January 6. Her sentencing is scheduled for April 4.
