MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A man has been arrested, years after a woman was fatally shot in Miami Gardens, police confirmed Tuesday.
According to Miami Gardens police, Chrishawn Jamaal Escoffery Jr., 25, was arrested Friday by detectives from the Miami Gardens Police Department and the United States Marshals Task Force.
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He is charged with second-degree murder.
Patrick Ulysse and Eugene Allen also face murder charges in connection with the slaying of 27-year-old Valencia Lee Ashley in 2020.
According to police reports, the victim’s body was discovered Sept. 2, 2020, in the bushes of an illegal dumping site at 2900 NW 215th St. in Miami Gardens by a construction crew.
Police said Ashley was wearing her Wing Stop work uniform when her body was found.
Detectives contacted Ashley’s employer and discovered that she was last seen at the business just after midnight on Aug. 31 after she had finished her shift.
According to an arrest warrant, Allen and Ashley lived together in a trailer on Northwest 79th Street.
Police said Allen was spotted getting out of a Nissan Rogue in the community on Sept. 2 and gave written consent for officers to search the trailer and the vehicle.
Allen denied having any contact with his girlfriend over the last few days, the warrant stated.
According to the report, a gun was found under the driver’s seat of the vehicle and the gun matched the firearm evidence that was recovered from the scene.
An examination by the medical examiner’s office confirmed that Ashley was shot to death and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Police said surveillance video obtained from several locations confirmed the suspects’ involvement in the murder, and cellphone records showed that the three suspects were together on the day of the killing.
According to the report, the video shows Escoffery going through the victim’s purse as she was led away from the trailer. The Nissan Rogue was later caught on camera at the dump site, authorities said.
As of Tuesday, Escoffery was being held without bond at the Turner Guildford Knight Correctional Center.