Brownsville Man Convicted Of Murdering Estranged Wife After Stalking Her

BROWNSVILLE – Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced today that a 55-year-old Brownsville resident has been convicted of second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of his estranged wife after he followed her to her friend’s house after work.

As BKLYNER reported in September 2016, Beresford Ashley turned himself in at the 78th Precinct on September 14, arriving to the station with blood on his clothes and a cut on his hand.

“I think I committed an offense,” Beresford told police. “I got in a fight with my wife in her car in front of her place.”

According to trial testimony, at approximately 11:37am on September 13, 2016, Beresford showed up at a nursing home on Linden Boulevard where his estranged wife, Karen Ashley, worked. When she spotted him, she alerted security, and a security officer escorted her to her car. Karen then drove to her friend’s house located on Blake Avenue near Drew Street.

As she pulled up to her friend’s home, Beresford blocked her with his car and got into the back seat of her car, according to trial testimony. He then reportedly stabbed her multiple times and slashed her throat “from side to side.” Beresford fled when Karen’s friend came out of the house. The friend found Karen slumped over in her car and called 911.

At approximately 1:30am the next morning, Beresford turned himself in at the 78th Precinct. An investigation found that the blood discovered in Karen’s car contained a mixture of her and Beresford’s DNA. The t-shirt Beresford was wearing also contained a mixture of their DNA.

According to Acting District Attorney Gonzalez, this was the first trial in Brooklyn to use STRmix technology, a software that helps DNA analysts interpret and calculate mixtures. In this case, the software was able to isolate Beresford’s DNA from Karen’s.

Beresford will be sentenced on December 15. He faces 25 years to life in prison.