One half of the social media power couple who was criminally indicted for a murder-for-hire scheme has been found guilty in federal court.
Ashley and Joshua Grayson were charged last summer with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire. Prosecutors alleged that the Mississippi-based couple contacted a contract killer in Tennessee between August and September 2022, and paid that individual to murder another person.
A jury convicted Ashley Grayson last Friday for the crime, according to court documents obtained by Atlanta Black Star. Her husband, Joshua, was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Ashley Grayson gained notoriety online after reportedly making $1 million less than an hour after launching her online business, Digital Course Recipe.
People became more familiar with Grayson following her lavish proposal to Joshua Grayson, which took place on a rented yacht and featured a performance from R&B singer Monica. Videos and pictures of the event went viral, which earned the couple a massive social media following.
The year after their engagement, allegations started circulating that the success Ashley Grayson garnered from her online business was greatly exaggerated and that the money she made was actually from a worker’s compensation settlement after she lost a finger at her old job. One woman accused Grayson of cheating her out of $2,000 after she bought the course and was subsequently blocked.
In 2022, Grayson filed a defamation lawsuit against a financial coach named Derricka Harwell alleging that a comment Harwell posted under one of Grayson’s Facebook posts was “false, defamatory, and injurious.” The suit claimed that Harwell’s post “permanently damaged” Grayson’s personal reputation “online and around the world” and made people believe that Grayson “stalked and harassed” Harwell.
In the indictment documenting the murder-for-hire plot, prosecutors identified the targeted murder victim by the initials D.H. That individual was not harmed. Most of the records are sealed in the case, and it is not clear how federal investigators became aware of the plot, but there is a video circling online with woman who seems to appear to be Ashley Grayson speaking to another woman on a video chat about “Derricka.” However, it is not confirmed if the recording is linked to the case.
Grayson was initially scheduled to be sentenced on July 12. However, on Aug. 16, her sentencing hearing was changed to Sept. 26. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
