Posted 11:44 pm Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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Woman pleads guilty to 1st-degree felony
A knife-wielding woman who robbed a Tyler bank in March pleaded guilty on Monday, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Jason Parrish said.
Vanessa Ashley Ashford, 28, of Shreveport, La., pleaded guilty in Smith County 241st District Court to the first-degree felony. She admitted robbing the Regions Bank at 1810 SSE Loop 323 on March 29. She has opted to have a jury decide her punishment, and that sentencing trial will begin today.
Parrish said Ms. Ashford might receive probation, or up to life in prison for the March robbery.
Ms. Ashford also confessed to the Feb. 29 robbery of the Telco Credit Union, 620 W. Front St. in Tyler, Tyler police said in March. Parrish said he would try Ms. Ashford in that case in a separate trial.
Vanessa Ashley Ashford, 28, of Shreveport, La., pleaded guilty in Smith County 241st District Court to the first-degree felony. She admitted robbing the Regions Bank at 1810 SSE Loop 323 on March 29. She has opted to have a jury decide her punishment, and that sentencing trial will begin today.
Parrish said Ms. Ashford might receive probation, or up to life in prison for the March robbery.
Ms. Ashford also confessed to the Feb. 29 robbery of the Telco Credit Union, 620 W. Front St. in Tyler, Tyler police said in March. Parrish said he would try Ms. Ashford in that case in a separate trial.
“I have a strategy for not combining the cases,” Parrish said.
In court Aug. 6, Parrish, along with defense attorney Jeffrey Grass, said a forensic psychiatrist who had conducted a mental competency exam on Ms. Ashford in June and found her competent to stand trial.
In court Aug. 6, Parrish, along with defense attorney Jeffrey Grass, said a forensic psychiatrist who had conducted a mental competency exam on Ms. Ashford in June and found her competent to stand trial.
