Nearing Christmas in 2021, Ashlee Butler, 36, at the time, had decided to leave her husband after a history of domestic violence. She went home to pack. Her husband, Ross Butler, 52 at the time, allegedly abducted her, strangled her and left her to die in a house in Chesterfield County, a southwest suburb of Richmond, Va.
Police believe he staged the assault as an attempted suicide and reported it to authorities. Ashlee Butler–also known as Ashlee Davis–died in a hospital on Dec. 23, 2021, on her 37th birthday. Ross Butler went to Florida.
On May 18, a Chesterfield grand jury indicted Butler on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree abduction leading to murder, and strangulation.
Deputies knew of Butler from previous encounters. When he lived in Bunnell in 2023 he’d had a couple of serious run-ins with police for driving without a license and spent 30 days in jail. In 2024, when he was living at the Holiday Travel Park near Old Dixie Highway, the Florida Highway Patrol arrested him on State Road 100 after a speeding stop and charged him with drunk driving and a felony drug possession count.
The charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor, as was a subsequent felony charge for driving on a suspended license. He pleaded to both, served six months on probation, violated his probation and spent three months in jail last year. A clerk of court notice sent to a post office box he’d listed in Flagler Beach last year returned undeliverable.
So deputies knew what he looked like from his booking photos. They stopped him on Wednesday as he was leaving the hospital and asked him to go to the Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell. The Sheriff’s Office sent notice to Virginia that it had Butler. Officials in Virginia confirmed the warrant, and said they would extradite him. At that point, Butler was placed under arrest and again booked at the county jail.
Lately Butler, now 56, had been staying at the seaside Whale Watch motel on South 25th Street in Flagler Beach.
“Family and witnesses that knew Ashlee came forward with information and concerns regarding the circumstances of her death,” a Chesterfield police spokesperson told Virginia media. “As with all unnatural deaths, detectives conducted a thorough investigation. During the investigation, detectives determined that the evidence at the scene and the injuries to the victim were inconsistent with suicide.”
“This guy thought he could get away with murder and live the rest of his life at the beach,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly was quoted as saying in a release. “Thanks to cooperation between our Criminal Intelligence Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Unit, the Chesterfield County Police Department, and the Flagler Beach Police Department, he’s hiding out no longer and will soon be headed back to Virginia to face justice.”
NJ says
Wonder how many other Beautiful woman this SCUMBAG Killed??
Laurel says
You know what really ticks me off? The term “domestic violence.” It’s as if it’s a separate category from other violence. Somehow, more acceptable. Violence is violence, yet the act is defined differently with the addition of the word “domestic.”
Women are not being protected in this society.
“In the United States, nearly three women are killed by an intimate partner every day, which translates to over 1,000 women annually. Additionally, over 55% of all female homicide victims are killed by current or former intimate partners.
– Search Assist, sanctuaryforfamilies.org, now.org
That does not take into account the number of women who are still currently in an abusive situation. In California alone, 23% of women incarcerated are serving time for killing their abuser. Self defense is not an option.
I know a woman who told me she waited until her husband was asleep on the couch, she grabbed the baby, and literally slid along the wall to the front door, and ran. This same man never paid child support.
Same thing with “sexual harassment.” Harassment is harassment, whether it’s sexual, verbal or any other form of physical.
We need to change our attitudes towards the abusers, and change the way we define violence and harassment, and start protecting our women. There’s no excuse for this.
Goose Nightmare says
He was neither a fugitive nor hiding, but feel free to embellish in order to grab headlines. He has a very active Facebook page that lists his home as Flagler Beach, FL
FlaglerLive says
The article neither refers to him as a fugitive nor as in hiding. It refers to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Fugitive Unit that handled the arrest after the warrant was issued. He did not have a home in Flagler Beach. He had a motel room, and had no local home. What people say on their Facebook page is not a reference. If you can point to a single substantia “embellishment” in the article, you have even more powers of invention than your comment suggests.
Pogo says
A suggestion
… start here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=linguistics
Cindy says
PEOPLE STOP READING THESE ARTICLES THE INFO ISN’T CORRECT SO STOP JUDGING PEOPLE OFF OF SOMEONE WRITING A ARTICLE ON SOMEONE THEY DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT!! He was not hiding and yes the sheriff says his days of hiding are over well he wasn’t! Just bc you don’t consider it a home doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t lots of people rent these for homes the little rooms by beachfront so YES he did have a home and paid ridiculous amount to live in that little room which by the way is more like a little cottage type thing and every single one of them people LIVE IN! So stop making it seem like he lived in some shit hole that shit hole cost $1200 a month. I mean for god sakes he’s all over Facebook and the cops have come here numerous times questioning him in the past years he stayed right here no running no nothing! You ever think he moved away cause he lived in a small town of 3,000 and everyone was talking about it and he felt uncomfortable and reminded about it everyday big deal he moved anyone WOULD! So stop writing these sounding all judgmental and shit when you don’t know! It’s a joke and any good local knows better cause we have read years and years of complete nonsense! You wanna be a good reporter get your story straight before writing it and throwing peoples lives out there to be judge!