The family of Ashley Flynn is remembering the slain mother of two as someone who “loved Jesus with her whole heart” after a jury found her husband, Caleb Flynn, guilty of her murder, while his family maintains his innocence. Family members of both Caleb and Ashley Flynn reacted to the guilty verdict against the former worship leader and “American Idol” contestant in the February killing of his wife at their Ohio home.
The jury reached its verdict Tuesday after two hours of deliberation. That followed several days of testimony from law enforcement officials, Ashley Flynn’s relatives and Caleb Flynn’s former mistress, Alleigha Botner.
On the stand, Botner read aloud messages in which Caleb Flynn allegedly said he wanted to kill his wife and “not go to Hell for it.” Prosecutor Paul Watkins read aloud a statement from Ashley Flynn’s family outside the courthouse after the verdict. “Today’s verdict brings justice and accountability for Ashley’s death and our family is deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring us to this moment,” the family said.
“However, no verdict can bring Ashley back, give the girls back their mother or erase the pain our family has endured,” the statement added. “The cruelty of what happened to Ashley and the things we’ve been forced to hear and relive have at times felt unbearable. But through all of it, we’ve held tightly to this truth. Ashley’s life will not be defined by the way it ended.
She’ll be remembered for the way she lived.” The family said Ashley Flynn “loved Jesus with her whole heart" and that her faith was not “something she simply spoke about,” the statement said. “It was how she lived.”