A convicted sex offender has been charged with the murder of an Indigenous woman on a Michigan reservation. It’s believed the man fatally shot the woman because he believed she was cheating on him. He also shot and injured her young child.
via People:
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan, Johnathan Ashford, 37, is accused of fatally shooting the woman and injuring her child on the Isabella Reservation in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
MLive.com identified the deceased victim as Ashford’s girlfriend, 33-year-old Rosanna Romero.
According to the outlet, authorities began investigating Nov. 5, when a toddler and an infant suffering from an alleged non-life threatening gunshot wound were dropped off at a local hospital.
The investigation led authorities to the children’s home, where their mother, Romero, was discovered dead from multiple gunshot wounds, the outlet reports.
Citing court records, The Morning Sun reports Ashford allegedly admitted to killing Romero because he thought she was being unfaithful to him. He also allegedly confessed to shooting her baby, the paper reports.
According to the outlet, relatives said Ashford moved in with Romero in September 2021, and kept several firearms in the home, which police recovered during the investigation.
In addition to the murder charge, authorities have charged Ashford with failing to register as a sex offender, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and after being convicted of a felony, first degree child abuse, and two counts of domestic assault by a habitual offender.
It was unclear Friday if he entered a plea to the charges or if he retained an attorney to comment on his behalf.
If convicted, Ashford faces up to life in prison.
Prayers go out to Rosanna’s family.
