Stand your ground law, self-defense key: woman acquitted in Dayton fatal shooting

Jackson’s defense attorney, L. Patrick Mulligan, said they are delighted with the verdict.

Mulligan noted Ohio has made changes that were “a long time coming” to its self-defense laws recently and that the defense team was able to take advantage of that.

“The facts were overwhelming in Miss Jackson’s case in favor of her,” he said.

Mulligan also cited video evidence as helping the defense’s case.

Jackson’s charges were related to a Dec. 19, 2021, shooting in the 3400 block of North Main Street in Dayton. Police found that 34-year-old Ashley R. Webster and a 27-year-old woman had been shot. Webster was pronounced dead at the scene, and the second woman was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening injuries, Dayton police Maj. Jason Hall previously said.

“During this time, the individual responsible for shooting both females called 911, provided her location and was detained,” Hall said. “The initial indications are that the deceased and the suspect were known to each other and had been involved in an ongoing dispute that tragically escalated into gunfire.”

In November, the defense team filed a notice they intended to introduce evidence of self-defense and defense of another, as well as plans to invoke Ohio’s Stand Your Ground law.

The defense claimed Webster threatened Jackson and a man with whom she attended a holiday party, and that Webster made four trips on Dec. 19 to the home of Jackson and the man, according to court documents.

During one of those trips, Webster’s vehicle blocked Jackson’s vehicle and Webster exited her vehicle and reportedly “attempted to assault the defendant with an object,” the defense wrote. “During this final attempted assault, the defendant, a licensed CCW carrier, invoked her right to self-defense and defense of another.”

The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office released a statement: “The shooting death of Ashley Webster by the defendant was fully investigated and the police believed this to be a case of murder. At trial, the defendant claimed self-defense and was found not guilty by the jury.”