Ashton Wardlow (Crittenden County Sheriffs Office).
An Arkansas man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend, following a premeditated attack involving a barrage of gunfire and an ominous series of text messages.
On Thursday, a jury in Crittenden County found 27-year-old Ashton Wardlow guilty of first-degree murder and 17 counts of terroristic acts, as reported by the prosecuting attorney’s office. Each charge included an enhancement for the use of a firearm.
In accordance with the jury’s recommendation, 2nd Judicial Division Circuit Judge Dan Ritchey handed down a sentence of four consecutive life terms. These are to be followed by an additional 830 years in prison, reflecting the severity of the crime.
This harsh sentence was delivered for the murder of 23-year-old Ivori Harris, who tragically lost her life in this calculated act of violence.
The incident occurred on June 29, 2024, when Harris was found dead in her vehicle on Wilson Road in West Memphis—a city near the Arkansas-Tennessee border. Her car was riddled with 117 bullets, causing it to crash into a nearby home and endangering the homeowner, according to the West Memphis Police Department.
Wardlow fired 117 shots into Harris’ vehicle, causing the victim to crash into a home – and nearly killing the man who lived inside, according to the West Memphis Police Department.
Authorities would soon learn that Wardlow and Harris had been in a tumultuous six-year relationship that was characterized by “domestic violence, stalking, and threats of harm,” according to a police report obtained by Memphis-based ABC affiliate WATN.
Investigators used text messages between the defendant and the slain woman, as well as witness accounts of their often-strained relationship from Harris’ best friend, to make their case.
Bolstering the state’s case was surveillance footage showing Wardlow’s car circling around the neighborhood where Harris was to be killed on the day in question – before eventually stopping right next to the victim’s own vehicle – when Harris was sitting inside. Then, Wardlow himself is seen leaving his car and walking toward Harris.
And then a flurry of text messages from man to woman: “I know you’re not home,” “Goodbye,” and “I’m officially done with you.”
And then a flurry of bullets.
After the murder, Wardlow fled to Carbondale, Kansas.
He was eventually arrested by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office deputies and extradited back to Arkansas.
Prosecutors praised the outcome.
“I want to thank Sgt. Chad Davis and the West Memphis Police Department for their tireless work and dedication to this case,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Coe said in a statement. “Their commitment and professionalism were instrumental in securing this verdict. I also want to thank the family of Ivori Harris for their strength and courage throughout this process. This verdict ensures that Ashton Wardlow will never see the outside of a prison again, and I hope it brings some measure of peace to those who loved Ivori.”
