A 35-year-old Texas influencer will serve a decade in federal prison after attempting to hire a couple to kill three people, including her ex-boyfriend.
Ashley Grayson was sentenced to ten years in prison plus three years of supervised release on November 18, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee. In July 2023, a jury indicted Grayson and her husband, Joshua Grayson, for using an interstate facility to murder for hire. Ashley Grayson was convicted in the March 2024 trial, while her husband was acquitted by the jury.
According to prosecutors, Ashley Grayson, who ran an online business and “gained notoriety,” had a disagreement with a competitor from Southaven, Mississippi, in 2021. Grayson believed the lady created false web profiles and “criticized Grayson and her business.” Despite the disagreement, Grayson had never met the woman in person.
In August 2022, Grayson scheduled a meeting with a Memphis lady she had previously worked with to “discuss a ‘business opportunity.'” The woman and her husband traveled to Dallas the following month, where they met Grayson and her husband.
Grayson allegedly informed the pair she would pay them to kill three people: the Southaven woman, her ex-boyfriend, and a Texas woman who had posted terrible things about Grayson online. Grayson allegedly offered $20,000 for each killing.
The Memphis lady taped a call with Grayson on September 10, 2022, during which Grayson stated that she wanted the Southaven woman “killed as soon as possible.” Grayson offered the Memphis woman $5,000 more if she committed the murder the following week.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, the Memphis pair grabbed images of police lights from a separate event while claiming to have attempted to kill the Southaven woman but were unsuccessful. The duo then reportedly “demanded” $10,000 from Grayson for the botched effort, and they met with her in Dallas to collect the money.
According to US Attorney Fondren, “This was a 21st-century crime in which online feuds and senseless rivalries bled into the real world.” “The defendant attempted to hire someone to murder a woman over events that occurred solely on the internet.”