Charles Maurice Colbert (Tulsa Police Department) and authorities were outside of the house where he shot and killed Ashley Sneed (KOTV screenshot)
A 43-year-old man in Oklahoma will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing the mother of his child, fatally shooting the 38-year-old victim inside of her home after she tried to have him served with legal documents seeking sole custody of their 1-year-old.
Tulsa County District Court Judge Clifford J. Smith on Tuesday ordered Charles Maurice Colbert to be imprisoned for life in a state correctional facility without the chance of being released for the 2022 killing of Ashley Sneed, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Colbert in December gave up his right to a jury trial, choosing instead to have a bench trial before Smith who then found him guilty of killing Sneed.
As per a previous news release from the Tulsa Police Department, officers at about 12:30 p.m. on May 7, 2022, went to a house near E Latimer Court and N 89th E Avenue for a reported homicide. When they arrived, first responders found an adult female, later identified as Sneed, who seemed to have multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators said they discovered that when Colbert arrived at Sneed’s house, she tried to lock him out. Colbert managed to get inside and the two argued about visitation rights for their child.
“Sneed tried to deliver legal papers to Colbert for child custody,” the release stated. “Colbert became very angry and shot and killed Sneed. Colbert then fled the scene.”
Authorities said that there were several children present at the house when the shooting occurred. However, the then-1-year-old child that Colbert and Sneed shared was not there at the time.
Colbert, who had fled the scene before authorities arrived, was later found and arrested in Dallas, Texas.
The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that Colbert had physically abused Sneed during their relationship
“Ashley Sneed was the victim of Charles Colbert’s domestic violence for many years,” Assistant District Attorney Dalinda Jeffers, who prosecuted the case alongside ADA John Tjeerdsma, said in a statement. “Her children were terrorized by his explosive rage. However, with help from family and friends, Ashley found the strength to escape that dark place and start a new and productive life away from him, free from his brutality, at least for a short while. I’m glad she got to feel the sun on her face and the wind in her hair before Colbert killed her for disobeying him, firing 13 gunshots into her, most if not all of them as she lay on her laundry room floor. Justice was served today when the judge sentenced him to life in prison without the chance of parole.”
After the sentencing hearing, Colbert’s public defender filed a notice of intent to appeal, court records show.