Ashley Christine Laney was born on October 13, 1982. She grew up in Florida and appeared to live a relatively unremarkable life before crossing paths with Timothy Alvin “Tracey” Humphrey. At the time they met in 2002, Ashley was working at a Planet Smoothie shop in Brandon, Florida. She also frequented a local gym, where she encountered Tracey, a man sixteen years her senior with a long criminal record.

Their relationship escalated quickly. Tracey, who was awaiting trial for felony battery and sexual assault against his former girlfriend Sandee Rozzo, presented himself as charismatic and assertive. Ashley, younger and impressionable, became devoted to him despite his past. In July 2003, just over a year after they met, Ashley and Tracey got married on Independence Day.

Friends and investigators later suggested that Ashley was manipulated and dominated by Tracey, who saw her as a willing accomplice. Over time, she was drawn deeper into his plan to prevent Rozzo from testifying in the upcoming assault trial.

On July 5, 2003, one day after her wedding, 20-year-old Ashley Humphrey set out to kill Sandee Rozzo, the woman poised to testify against her new husband. That night, she drove from Brandon to Pinellas Park, Florida, and waited in her car near the Green Iguana bar, where Rozzo worked.

For hours, Ashley sat in the darkness, watching and waiting. When Rozzo finally left work and returned to her townhouse garage, Ashley followed her, approached her vehicle, and fired eight rounds into her. The shooting was swift and fatal.

Tracey Humphrey had arranged his own alibi, staying behind at their apartment and ordering pizza. His acquaintance, Tobe White, confirmed he was home, attempting to divert suspicion. But cell phone records quickly unraveled their plan, placing Ashley near the murder scene at the critical moment.

When police arrested Ashley, she confessed. She described the planning and admitted she pulled the trigger but insisted she did so under Tracey’s instructions. She also revealed a prior failed attempt to kill Rozzo.

In exchange for avoiding a potential life sentence, Ashley agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and testify against Tracey. In February 2006, she took the stand, recounting in vivid detail how she staked out the bar, followed Rozzo home, and killed her to protect Tracey from conviction.

Her testimony proved critical. Although Tracey tried to argue that the killing was Ashley’s idea, the jury was unconvinced and found him guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life without parole.

On March 10, 2006, Ashley was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She is serving her sentence at the Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, Florida, and is scheduled for release on December 13, 2028. By then, she will be 46 years old.