Texas influencer sentenced for hiring couple to kill her ex, an online critic, and a competitor
11/26/2024 1:06 pm PST
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (TCN) -- A 35-year-old Texas influencer will spend a decade in federal prison for trying to hire a couple to kill three people, including her ex-boyfriend.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee announced Nov. 18 that a judge sentenced Ashley Grayson to 10 years, plus three years of supervised release. A jury indicted Grayson and her husband, Joshua Grayson, in July 2023 for use of interstate facility in commission of murder-for-hire. The case went to trail in March 2024, and Ashley Grayson was found guilty, but the jury acquitted her husband.
According to prosecutors, Ashley Grayson, who operated an online business and "gained notoriety," got into a dispute with a competitor from Southaven, Mississippi, in 2021. Grayson believed the woman made fake online profiles and "criticized Grayson and her business." Despite the falling out, Grayson had never met the woman in person.
In August 2022, Grayson arranged to meet with a Memphis woman whom she had worked with in the past to "discuss a 'business opportunity.'" The woman and her husband arrived in Dallas the following month, where they met with Grayson and her husband. Grayson reportedly told the couple she would pay them to kill three different individuals, including the Southaven woman, her ex-boyfriend, and a Texas woman who had posted negative things about Grayson online. Grayson allegedly offered $20,000 for each slaying.
The Memphis woman recorded a call she had with Grayson on Sept. 10, 2022, in which Grayson told her she wanted the Southaven woman "killed as soon as possible." Grayson reportedly said she’d pay the Memphis woman $5,000 more if she carried out the slaying the following week.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Memphis couple took photos of police lights from a separate incident under the guise that they had tried to kill the Southaven woman but were unsuccessful. The couple then reportedly "demanded" $10,000 from Grayson for the unsuccessful attempt, and they met with her in Dallas for the payment.
U.S. Attorney Fondren said, "This was a 21st-century crime where online feuds and senseless rivalries bled into the real world. The defendant tried to hire someone to murder a woman over things that happened exclusively on the internet."
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