FORT WORTH -- Court documents released Monday detail the death of a Hulen Mall employee and name her two former co-workers as the culprits.
Police have charged Carter Cervantez, 25, and her boyfriend Clarence "David" Mallory, 19, with capital murder in the death of Ashlea Harris, 31.
Police say Harris was strangled and badly beaten just before Thanksgiving. Her hands and feet were bound in duct tape. After that, police say, Mallory and Cervantez lit Harris' apartment on fire.
"They don't know anybody. They're trying to cover up their evidence," said neighbor Michael Leach upon hearing the news. "Literally, they can burn this thing down not knowing the other people's lives that are in jeopardy. Just not having that care in the world."
We now know that all three had worked together at the American Eagle store in the Hulen Mall in Fort Worth. This summer Mallory and Cervantez were suspected of robbing $18,000 dollars from the store. Harris and other workers helped identify Mallory and Cervantez. The two disappeared and were never arrested.
Police say Harris worked overnight Black Friday and arrived home around 3:15 a.m. on Nov. 28. Just a few hours later, her strangled and burned body was found after firefighters were called to a fire in her apartment.
A neighbor below Harris told police that he heard a thump, screaming and heavy breathing around 7:30 a.m. His carbon monoxide detector then went off, and water came through his ceiling from the sprinklers in Harris' apartment.
Documents say the only thing missing from Harris' apartment were her keys, which contained the keys to the American Eagle store as well as the safe.
After learning about the previous theft case, police began to monitor the couple.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
On the morning of Nov. 29, they followed the pair as they drove Cervantez's car to the Hulen Mall. Mallory dropped off Cervantez and parked outside an entrance as she went inside.
Police approached Mallory, who was wearing a black ski mask on his head. After telling police that he was waiting on his girlfriend to fill out paperwork inside a store where she worked, police arrested Mallory for not having a driver's license.
Officers later saw surveillance video from inside the mall showing Cervantez attempting to unlock the door at American Eagle Outfitters using the keys stolen from Harris' apartment. A manager at the store told police that the locks were changed after Harris' death.
A search of Cervantez's car, which was identified by Harris' neighbor as being at the scene of the murder, found a second ski mask in the trunk and a 9mm handgun. A guide to "lock picking" and a walkie talkie were also found inside.
A week after Harris' death, arrest warrants for capital murder and theft were issued. Cervantez was arrested in Fort Worth and Mallory was taken into custody in Amarillo.
Both are currently being held at the Mansfield Jail with bonds of $500,000 for murder and $100,000 for theft.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and WFAA's David Schechter contributed to this report.
