The parents of former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn have spoken out after he was found guilty of killing his wife.
Flynn, 40, is due to be sentenced in early October for murdering Ashley Flynn following a yearslong affair with a woman who worked at the church where the couple served on the worship team.
After the verdict was delivered, Flynn’s mother, Kim, broke down in tears while speaking to reporters and blamed the media for influencing the jury.
“We couldn’t get ahead of the media’s propaganda and lies,” she said.
“He didn’t do it. It was all circumstantial junk,” Kim added.
Jurors found that Flynn shot his wife while she slept in the marital bed at their Ohio home on February 16. They reached their decision after about two and a half hours of deliberation.
Flynn’s lip quivered and tears ran down his face as the judge read the guilty verdict at the Miami County courthouse on Tuesday.
He rocked back and forth and sobbed before lowering his head in an apparent prayer, while members of Ashley’s family watched from the courtroom.
The judge revoked Flynn’s bond, and he was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs. His sentencing is set for October 5.
Flynn now faces life in prison without parole for Ashley’s murder. Police say the killing took place while the couple’s two young daughters, who were then nine and 11, were at home.
He had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, evidence tampering and several other charges.
On Monday afternoon, prosecutors filed a motion seeking to dismiss two misdemeanor counts alleging intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case.
Kim Flynn, Caleb Flynn’s mother, accused the media of spreading “propaganda” that she said contributed to the guilty verdict against her son
A jury found 40-year-old Caleb Flynn guilty of murdering his wife, Ashley, after he had an affair with a woman who worked at the church where he was a preacher
Flynn rocked back and forth and wept before lowering his head in prayer after the guilty verdict was read at the Miami County courthouse
Flynn shot Ashley while she slept in the marital bed at their home in Tipp City, Ohio, on February 16
Flynn told police in a frantic 911 call that a burglar had entered their Tipp City home, a suburb north of Dayton, and killed 37-year-old Ashley. Prosecutors argued, however, that the former worship pastor staged the burglary to mislead investigators.
Prosecutors said Flynn had been having an affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted to end his marriage.
The court also heard that he wanted to avoid losing custody of his daughters, his well-paid job at Ashley’s family’s business and his position at the church.
During the trial, Botner acknowledged the affair and testified that Flynn had said he hated Ashley and had thought about killing her.
Botner, 24, testified she met Flynn in 2022 while she was a 20-year-old intern at the Christian Life Center in Dayton. He was in his 30s.
She and Flynn shared more than 100,000 texts over the course of their 18-month-long romance, which she told the court began in early 2024.
The mistress, who has since resigned from her role at the church and moved to North Carolina, read some of their messages aloud to the jury.
He regularly complained about his wealthy in-laws, Botner testified, and said Flynn told her he only stayed with Ashley because of their two pre-teen daughters.
The married man and his mistress got matching tattoos, with Flynn’s in his armpit, so his spouse would not notice. Each got a lightning bolt, signifying their shared love of Harry Potter.
Flynn’s bond was revoked and he was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs
Ashley’s family react after the 40-year-old was found guilty of all counts
Flynn’s father, who sat directly behind his son in court throughout the duration of the trial, appeared heartbroken as the 40-year-old was hauled off to jail
Botner told the court that Flynn ignored her ultimatums to leave his wife for her – the final one allegedly given the month before Ashley was killed.
In one September 2025 message, Flynn himself listed what he was prepared to sacrifice to be with his mistress.
He said he was willing to risk his ‘daughters, a quarter-million-dollar salary job, a place to live, possibly a church I serve at, public shame and humiliation, and way more.’
Botner, meanwhile, repeatedly demanded that he leave Ashley. ‘Until she’s gone, I’m gone,’ she wrote in one ultimatum.
‘I was up until 4am last night crying, literally thinking of ways to kill her and not go to jail,’ he wrote.
Botner responded by explicitly telling him not to kill Ashley.
‘I’m not asking that you take her life, obviously, because that’s not what you should do, and I know you actually wouldn’t,’ she wrote. ‘But to make the divorce happen, it would change everything.’
Flynn responded: ‘I’ll work on getting rid of her. Until then, I love you.’
Police say Flynn carried out the murder while the couple’s two young daughters, then nine and 11, were asleep in the home
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder broke in through their garage and killed his wife
By the night before Ashley’s death, prosecutors say the pair’s secret relationship had reached a decisive moment.
Botner sent Flynn information she had researched about divorce proceedings, custody, deleting messages and how Ashley could potentially prove her husband’s infidelity.
Shortly before midnight, Flynn sent his mistress one final message. He wrote: ‘Good night, tomorrow’s a big day. I’ve got to get to bed.
‘I choose you, I’m about to be free.’
Hours later, Ashley was dead.
Botner testified that the timing immediately alarmed her.
‘Caleb, what’s going on? Were you involved? Is this real?’ she messaged Flynn on the morning of the killing.
Flynn had been having a yearslong affair with Alleigha Botner, a worship leader at his church, and wanted out of his marriage, the court heard
Alleigha Botner performs on state at the CLC church in September 2023. Her married lover is behind her on the guitar
She later deleted the message because she feared investigators would examine his phone and discover their affair, she admitted.
When she learned Ashley had supposedly been killed by an intruder, Botner said her ‘heart started pounding.’
‘In my mind, it just seemed like too much of a coincidence that, the day he’s divorcing her, she’s just dead all of a sudden,’ she told the court.
Flynn insists he was sleeping in another room with his daughters when an intruder killed his wife.
His defense maintains investigators rushed to judgment and that lurid publicity surrounding his affair has distorted the evidence against him.
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day.
‘His being unfaithful doesn’t equal murder,’ said defense attorney Patrick Mulligan. ‘The issue here isn’t, “Was he a good husband?”‘
Flynn’s attorney told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday that investigators never found a gun or evidence that Flynn fired a gun that day
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Text messages Flynn sent to his lover complaining about his wife were meant to make her feel good, Mulligan added.
Flynn appeared on American Idol in 2013, telling TV viewers his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition.
He sang before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.
