Ashley Elizabeth Jones appears in a booking photo in April 2024 (Colbert County Sheriff’s Office)
An Alabama woman is facing the prospect of decades behind bars after allegedly trying to drown her 10-year-old son in a bathtub.
Ashley Elizabeth Jones, 34, stands accused of one count of aggravated child abuse, according to authorities in Colbert County.
The child victim in question splits time between his mother and father, who are separated and have joint custody. The alleged abuse occurred after the boy told his mother he would rather live with his father.
The defendant hails from Sheffield, a small town in the Florence-Muscle Shoals metropolitan area of the Yellowhammer State. She was arrested on April 23 after being questioned the day before about the boy’s allegations, according to court records obtained by People.
The boy is alleged to have endured the abuse for several days before finally being able to tell his father what happened — after being picked up early from his mother’s house. Law enforcement allege the abuse occurred between April 15 and April 21, according to an affidavit.
Some alleged abuse, the boy told investigators, included his mother hitting and biting him. Things allegedly came to a head when the boy told his mother he wanted to live with his father. This admission allegedly prompted the adult to throw bleach on the child.
After that, the child went to take a bath in order to wash the bleach off — when his mother “jumped into the tub with him, and proceeded to grab his face, shoving it under water,” for some 45 seconds, the boy told police and a worker with the Colbert County Department of Human Resources, according to Huntsville-based ABC affiliate WAAY.
The boy decided to “play dead” by keeping his body still so his mother would stop trying to drown him, the affidavit says.
After that, the child was locked in a closet for what he surmises was three hours, according to law enforcement. On April 21, the boy called his father and insisted on an early retrieval, authorities allege.
When the boy was recovered, he allegedly had multiple “scrapes” and “bruises” on his body, which he said his mother had caused. The boy’s father would later tell investigators his son sounded “distressed” that Sunday and ran out of the house with “only his Xbox and clothing.”
At first, however, the boy kept the alleged abuse close to his chest while his father was hesitant. The father allegedly told his son he would need to check in with the mother if he were to pick him up unscheduled. The boy, in turn, allegedly begged his father not to do so and then revealed the alleged abuse. The father then called the police.
According to law enforcement, Jones first agreed to come in and discuss the alleged abuse, but never showed up to the meeting, prompting a “be on the lookout” alert to be filed, WAAY reports.
Eventually found by police, the mother went on to deny all the allegations leveled against her by her son.
Jones was arrested, charged and briefly detained in the Colbert County Jail on $50,000 bond — which she posted later the same day.
The defendant is next slated to appear in court on May 20.
Law&Crime reached out to the Colbert County sheriff’s office and the relevant court official for additional information on this case but no response was immediately forthcoming as of the time of publication.
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