The teenager convicted of killing her mother and stepfather nineteen months ago will spend the next 23-years in prison.
Oneida County Judge Michael Bloom heard both the defense and prosecution arguments for over ten hours Friday before sending now-18-year-old Ashlee Martinson to prison for stabbing her mother 40-year-old Jennifer Ayers and shoot 37-year-old Thomas Ayers at the family's rural Rhinelander home in March of 2015. Martinson will also have to engage in treatment or counseling.
In passing sentence, Bloom acknowledged that the killings were not premeditated, but Martinson made a bad choice. Dr. Sheryl Dolezal is a clinical and forensic psychologist and licensed social worker, who evaluated Martinson. She told the court Martinson both saw and experienced abuse in the home.
Other witnesses also described the abuse endured by Jennifer Ayers over the years. Prosecutor Michael Schiek was seeking 40 years in prison, while defense attorneys Thomas Wilmouth and Amy Lynn Ferguson argued for eight years of incarceration, emphasizing the abusive relationships of Jennifer Ayers and the pattern of physical, mental, and sexual abuse Martinson witnessed and experienced.
Part of the sentencing hearing included a defense video showing testimony to back their request. The hearing also included closed-door testimony from Martinson's younger siblings. Schiek told the court, "This can't be the solution, this can't be the lesson we take away from this if you're abused and there's provocation that this is the way to handle it."
Martinson gets credit for 460 days already served in jail.
