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"Beautiful" Kentucky Woman Gunned Down Leaving Work in Suspected Murder-Suicide
“She was beautiful and kind and sweet to everybody, and she uplifted everybody,” Ashley Yates’ brother, Andrew Thompson, said.
A Kentucky woman was gunned down in a parking lot as she was leaving work in what authorities are calling a “domestic violence” murder prior to the alleged shooter killing himself.
Ashley Yates, 35, was shot and killed outside a hair salon she worked at in Graymoor-Devondale on Friday, according to the Lyndon Police Department. The shooter later turned the gun on himself, authorities said.
“When we found her she was being treated by some civilians for her gunshot injuries,” Police Chief Robert Schroeder told PEOPLE.
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The shooter’s name hasn’t been released. Officials haven’t yet publicly commented on the relationship between Yates and her suspected killer.
Schroeder, however, characterized the murder as a “domestic violence situation.”
“We believe the suspect from the murder of Ashley Yates committed suicide Saturday evening,” Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. “Our case is closed by [the] death of [the] offender.”
Yates’ family have publicly stated they believe she was ambushed.
“[He] knew where she was going to be and what time she was going to get off, and he waited for her," Yates' brother, Andrew Thompson said said, according to WHAS11. "I believe she's in heaven, and he will have to answer to that same God for what he's done."
Yates’ family said she was deeply spiritual.
”That was my best friend in a lot of ways,” her brother, Andrew Thopmson said, per WHAS11. “We were always getting in trouble together, and she would come to my comedy shows. She was my biggest fan, and she believed in me. She was beautiful and kind and sweet to everybody, and she uplifted everybody.”
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Yates’ family is currently raising money to cover funeral expenses on GoFundMe. To date, the online fundraiser has raised just over $8,000 as of Thursday afternoon. The page described the 35-year-old as a “beautiful soul.”
“She did anything to make someone smile and laugh,” the GoFundMe page stated. “When she loved, she loved hard. Her time here will never be forgotten and we have all learned how to smile through the pain because of those memories with her. She’s our angel now and we rejoice in the fact that we will be reunited again one day.”
Yates worked at 18|8 Fine Men’s Salons in Louisville.
“Ashley was so full of life and lit up every room she walked into,” Jennifer Thauberger, the salon’s owner, told Louisville television station WAVE. "Everyone loved her and I can’t express enough how much she will be missed by us all. We are praying for her family and find peace in knowing she was a woman of faith."
No other information was immediately released by authorities.
If you’re experiencing domestic violence or know someone who is, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org.
