The courtroom is colder than you expect. Not because of the air conditioning, though it’s running hard, but because every surface here feels designed to erase warmth. Polished wood, clean lines, hard benches, a seal on the wall that looks like it has seen thousands of lives reduced to charges on paper.
From the gallery, you can see everything if you know where to look. The judge’s bench sits high like a warning. The jury box is off to the side, 12 chairs that will carry the weight of a decision nobody in this room will ever forget. The prosecution table is neat, sharp, organized. The defense table looks like it has been lived in.
Folders spled, legal pads filled, the quiet desperation of someone trying to hold back a flood with their hands. And then there’s her. She sits at the defense table in a conservative navy dress, hair pulled back, makeup softened like someone told her less is more. Her hands are folded but not relaxed.
Her jaw is set but not steady. She looks like she’s waiting for a camera to find her because she spent years looking into cameras. She spent years delivering tragedy in a practiced tone, sympathetic, composed, perfectly measured. She told other people’s stories to a city that trusted her voice the way you trust a familiar lullabi.
But today in this room, she isn’t the storyteller. She’s the defendant. Her name is Ava Hartwell. And the woman she’s accused of murdering, her own mother, was Elaine Hartwell. In the front row of the gallery, women sit shouldertosh shoulder, some with arms crossed, some clutching tissues like they already know they’ll need them.
You can feel it. the particular tension that comes when a case involves mothers and daughters, when family becomes a crime scene, when love turns into motive. Because this isn’t some random act of violence. This isn’t a home invasion gone wrong. This isn’t even a heated argument that spiraled out of control. This is a daughter, successful, educated, admired, standing accused of murdering the very person who raised her, her own mother.
The woman who taught America how to trust her had been living a lie nobody could have imagined. But wait, this gets so much worse than you think. Because this ain’t just about a murder. This is about money, manipulation, mental illness, and a family secret so dark it’ll make your skin crawl. What makes a woman who had everything, and I mean everything, decide that killing her own mother was the answer? What was she hiding? What did she stand to gain? And how in the world did she think she’d get away with it when literally thousands of people
recognized her face? Stick with me, folks, because this case has more twists than a pretzel factory. We’re talking about fake 911 calls, burner phones, a staged crime scene, life insurance fraud, and a final confrontation in that courtroom that nobody, and I mean nobody, saw coming. The baiff moves, quiet, but commanding. All rise.
The honorable judge Marcus Brennan enters. He’s in his late 50s, silver hair, reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He has the kind of face that has seen too much to be shocked, but not so much that he stopped caring. The gavl taps. Please be seated. And the world narrows.
This is where people come to be defined by what they did or what the state says they did. This is where stories stop being rumors and start becoming record. And as I watch from the gallery, watching of a Hartwell stare forward as if the air itself might crack, I keep thinking the same thing. How does a woman who had everything decide that her own mother is the obstacle? What turns a family into evidence? And how, in the age of surveillance cameras and cell tower pings and digital footprints, did she ever imagine she could get away with it?
Because the state says this wasn’t a crime of passion. They say it was planning. They say it was preparation. They say it was money. And if the prosecution is right, what happened in that house was not a moment. It was a decision. Ava Marie Hartwell was born on April 15th, 1985 in Scottdale, Arizona. And from the jump, this girl had it all.
I’m talking about the whole package, y’all. Blonde hair, blue eyes, straight tay student, captain of the debate team, homecoming queen. She was basically living in a teen movie. But here’s what people remember most about young Ava. She was driven. Like scary driven. The kind of kid who’d stay up until 300 a.m.
perfecting a presentation that wasn’t due for 2 weeks. Her mother, Elaine Hartwell, the woman she’d eventually murder, used to laugh about it. Ava won’t be happy until she’s on TV. Elaine would tell her friends at the country club. She wants to be the next Diane Sawyer. And Elaine, she was living the dream suburban life.
Divorced from Ava’s father when Ava was just eight, but she done well for herself. Real estate agent pulled in about $200,000 a year. Lived in a gorgeous four-bedroom house in Paradise Valley. Drove a white Mercedes. She wasn’t hurting for money, put it that way. And she spoiled Avarat. Private school, dance lessons, horseback riding, summer trips to Europe, the works.
But underneath all that perfection, there were cracks starting to show. Ava went to Arizona State University on a full academic scholarship, majored in broadcast journalism, made the deans list every single semester, joined the campus TV station her freshman year, and basically ran the whole operation by junior year. This gal was a machine, I’m telling you.
But here’s where things get interesting. Her roommates, they tell a different story than the polished image Ava showed the world. According to court documents obtained during the trial, Ava’s college roommate, Maya Tours, testified that Ava was obsessed with status and appearances. She said Ava would have complete meltdowns if she got anything less than an A.
We’re talking throwing things, screaming, punching walls, not normal college stress, y’all. Maya also said that Ava was constantly comparing herself to other students. If someone got an internship she wanted, Ava would spiral. She’d talk about how nobody respected her and how she deserved better than everyone else. Now, I’m no psychologist, but we’re seeing some classic narcissistic personality traits here, the need for constant validation, the inability to handle criticism, the belief that she was inherently superior to others. Red flag number one, folks,
remember this. After college, Ava landed an internship at Channel 8 Valley News in Phoenix. She was 22 years old, hungry as hell, and determined to claw her way to the top. And honestly, she was good. Really good. The camera loved her. She had this way of delivering even the darkest news stories with compassion but authority. People trusted her.
Within two years, she went from intern to weekend anchor. By 26, she was co-anchoring the weekday evening news. Ava Hartwell was officially Phoenix’s sweetheart. Viewers loved her. She had over 50,000 followers on Instagram. She did charity work with domestic violence shelters. She volunteered at animal rescues on her days off.
She was the whole damn package. But behind the scenes, the cracks were getting bigger. Ava was making about $95,000 a year at the station. Good money, right? Especially for a 20some in Phoenix, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Not for the lifestyle Ava wanted to portray. She was shopping at Neiman Marcus, driving a leased BMW, living in a luxury high-rise apartment in downtown Phoenix that cost $3,200 a month.
She was dining at the most expensive restaurants, taking weekend trips to LA and Vegas, buying designer everything. Y’all, the math ain’t mathing. Her colleagues started noticing. According to testimony from her producer, Dylan Park, Ava was constantly stressed about money. He said she’d take on extra freelance work, but she’d also complain that it wasn’t enough and that she deserved to be making network money by now.
There’s that narcissism again, the belief that she deserved more than she’d earned. Now, let’s talk about Ava’s love life. Because honey, this is where things get messy. Ava dated a lot, like a lot, a lot. But according to friends and co-workers, she never seemed to actually connect with anyone.
It was always about what they could do for her. She dated a real estate developer for 6 months. turned out she was mostly interested in his connections and his money. She dated a sports agent, basically used him for access to athletes and celebrities for her social media. She dated a plastic surgeon, got a free nose job and breast augmentation out of that one before dumping him.
The pattern is clear, people. Everything was transactional. Everyone was useful until they weren’t. But there was one relationship that mattered more than any romantic entanglement. Her mother. On the surface, Ava and Elaine seemed close. They did brunch every Sunday. They went shopping together. They posted cute motheraughter selfies on social media.
But according to what would come out during the trial, their relationship was complicated. Elaine was proud of Ava, no doubt. She bragged about her daughter to everyone. She recorded every newscast Ava did. She had a whole photo wall in her house dedicated to Ava’s career. But here’s the thing.
Elaine also had expectations. High expectations. Ava’s aunt Janice Lel testified that Elaine would often say things like, “I invested everything in that girl. She better take care of me when I’m old.” Invested. Like Ava was a stock portfolio. And therein lies the tension. Elaine had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Ava’s upbringing.
Private schools, college expenses, even with the scholarship, her first car, her first apartment deposit, bailout money when Ava overspent on credit cards. And Elaine kept track. Oh, she definitely kept track. According to text messages that were later recovered by police, Elaine would frequently remind Ava of everything she’d done for her.
She’d say things like, “After all, I’ve sacrificed for you and you owe me everything you have.” Now, was Elaine being manipulative? Maybe. Was Ava being ungrateful? Also, maybe. But what we’re seeing here is a codependent relationship with transactional overtones. Elaine used money as control. Ava used achievement as currency.
This dynamic was a ticking time bomb. By 2019, when Ava was 34 years old, things between her and Elaine were getting tense. Ava wanted to make the jump to national news. She had an agent. She was auditioning for spots at CNN, MSNBC, even trying to get on Fox News, but nothing was panning out. Meanwhile, her debt was piling up.
She had over $85,000 in credit card debt. Her savings account was basically empty. She’d borrowed $20,000 from Elaine the year before and hadn’t paid back a dime. And Elaine, she was getting tired of being Ava’s personal ATM. According to phone records, Elaine called Ava 47 times in the month of October 2019. 47 times. And the texts, they were getting increasingly hostile.
Ava, we need to talk about your finances. You can’t ignore this forever. You owe me money. I’m not giving you another scent until you pay me back what you owe. Maybe you should focus more on your actual job instead of trying to be an Instagram influencer. Ouch. Mom went for the throat on that last one. Friends of Ava said she was spiraling during this time.
She was drinking more. She’d gained weight, which for someone on camera was a huge source of stress. She was snapping at co-workers. She nearly got into a physical fight with another anchor over a story assignment. And then came the meeting that would change everything. November 1st, 2019. Elaine called Ava and told her they needed to sit down and have a serious conversation.
Not over the phone, in person. Elaine told Ava she was going to cut her off financially completely. No more loans, no more bailouts, no more shopping trips on Elaine’s credit card. But there was more. Elaine also told Ava that she was changing her will. See, up until this point, Ava was the sole beneficiary of Elaine’s estate.
The house, the investments, the life insurance policies. Everything was going to Ava when Elaine died. We’re talking roughly $1.2 million dollars. But Elaine had decided to split the inheritance. Half to Ava, half to charity. And y’all, this absolutely destroyed Ava. According to her therapist, yes, Ava was in therapy.
And yes, those records were subpoenaed during the trial. Ava had a complete breakdown during their session on November 5th, 2019. The therapist’s notes read, “Patient expressed extreme distress regarding mother’s financial decisions. Used phrases like, “She’s ruining my life, and I can’t survive without that money.” Patient exhibited signs of anxiety and possible dissociative thinking.
When asked about long-term financial planning, patient became hostile and left session early. Here’s what’s chilling about that note. Dissociative thinking. That means Ava was potentially disconnecting from reality. She wasn’t thinking rationally about solutions. She was fixating on the problem with an intensity that worried a trained mental health professional.
November was a rough month for Ava Hartwell. On November 12th, she was late to work three times in one week, something that had never happened before. On November 18th, she got into a screaming match with her news director about a promotion she didn’t get. On November 22nd, she posted a cryptic message on Instagram.
Sometimes the people closest to you are the ones who hurt you the most. Elaine commented on that post. She wrote, “Drama queen, call me.” That was the last public interaction between them. December arrived, holiday season, time for family, togetherness, gratitude. But Ava Hartwell wasn’t feeling grateful. She was feeling desperate, angry, and according to what prosecutors would later argue, she was feeling murderous.
What Ava didn’t know, what she couldn’t have possibly known, was that her mother had already changed the will on November 30th. The money was already gone, and in just 10 days, so would Elaine. December 10th, 2019, a Tuesday, the kind of day that should have been completely ordinary, but it was anything but.
Let me paint you the picture of what happened that day based on phone records, surveillance footage, witness statements, and Ava’s own shifting versions of events. And trust me, her story changed more times than a chameleon in a rainbow factory. 6:47 a.m. Ava’s phone pings off a cell tower near her apartment in downtown Phoenix.
According to her own statement, she woke up, did her normal morning routine, checked her phone. But here’s what’s interesting. She didn’t go to work that morning. Now, Ava was scheduled to anchor the 5:00 p.m. evening news. So, it wasn’t unusual for her to have a morning off. But according to her co-workers, she’d been picking up extra morning segments for the holiday season to make extra cash.
So, why wasn’t she at work? Remember that detail? It’s important. 7:23 a.m. Ava’s phone shows she made a call to Walmart. Yes, Walmart. She was calling the pharmacy department. According to the pharmacy records obtained by investigators, Ava called to ask about a prescription for ambient, a sleeping medication. The pharmacist testified that Ava asked hypothetically how many pills would be dangerous to take at once.
Y’all, red flag number 2000. who calls a pharmacy to ask about lethal doses of sleeping pills unless they’re planning something dark. But here’s the twist. And stay with me because this is where it gets really twisted. Prosecutors believe Ava wasn’t asking for herself. She was asking for her mother. 8:15 a.m. Ava texts her mother.
Can we talk? I want to apologize for everything. Elaine responds within 2 minutes. It’s about time. Come over tonight. 700 p.m. Ava, perfect. I’ll bring dinner. Your favorite Thai food from Lotus Garden. Elaine, make sure you get the pad thai with extra peanuts. Ava, I know, Mom. Love you, Elaine. Love you, too, baby girl.
That was the last text Ela Hartwell ever sent. Now, this is where things get absolutely wild because investigators were able to piece together Ava’s movements through surveillance cameras, credit card transactions, and phone records. And y’all, she was busy. 9:30 a.m. Ava is captured on surveillance at a Target in Tempe, Arizona.
That’s about 20 minutes from her apartment. She’s wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a hoodie, which okay, celebs try to go incognito [clears throat] all the time, but Ava wasn’t exactly bon level famous in Phoenix. Sure, people recognized her, but wearing a disguise to go to Target. Girl, what are you hiding? The Target receipt shows she bought disposable gloves, bleach, trash bags, and get this, a prepaid cell phone. A burner phone.
Ava Hartwell bought a burner phone. 10:45 a.m. Ava’s regular cell phone pings off a tower near a gun range in Mesa. She didn’t go inside. At least there’s no record of her at any gun range that day, but her phone was definitely in that area. Now, prosecutors theorized she was scouting locations, testing how far her phone signal reached, learning the area.
Why? We’ll get to that. 12:30 p.m. Ava goes to Lotus Garden, the Thai restaurant. Surveillance footage shows her ordering food. But here’s what’s creepy. She ordered two meals. Her mother’s pad thai with extra peanuts and a drunken noodle for herself. But according to the restaurant surveillance, Ava sat in her car in the parking lot for almost 20 minutes before going in.
And she was on her phone, the burner phone, making calls. Who was she calling? Well, investigators later found out she called a friend who was a pharmacist at a different hospital. She asked him theoretically if Amben would show up in a basic toxicology screen if someone died. Y’all, she wasn’t even being subtle anymo
- 2:15 p.m. Ava makes one more stop. Home Depot. She buys a tarp, duct tape, more trash bags, and a utility knife. The cashier who checked her out, Carlos Martinez, testified during the trial that he recognized Ava from TV. He said he almost asked for a selfie, but she seemed really stressed and like she didn’t want to be recognized.
Carlos, buddy, your instincts were right. You almost asked a woman planning a murder for a selfie. 300 p.m. A returns to her apartment. Her car is seen pulling into the parking garage on building security cameras. She doesn’t leave again until 5:47 p.m. So, what was she doing for almost 3 hours? According to forensic computer evidence, Ava was on her laptop.
She searched, “How long does it take to die from overdose? Can police trace burner phones? Arizona inheritance law if parent dies in testate, and this is the most chilling one, do news anchors go to prison?” She knew exactly what she was about to do and she was trying to figure out if she could get away with it. 5:47 p.m. Ava leaves her apartment.
She’s wearing jeans, a dark sweater, and a jacket. She’s carrying a large purse and two bags, one from Lotus Garden with the Thai food and one from Target. Her car, the least BMW, is captured on garage security cameras exiting the building. She drives to her mother’s house in Paradise Valley. The drive takes 35 minutes in evening traffic. 6:22 p.m.
Ava’s phone, her regular phone, not the burner, pings off a cell tower less than a mile from her mother’s house. And then something very interesting happens. It stops moving. It stops pinging towers. According to later analysis, Ava turned off her phone at approximately 6:24 p.m. Why would she do that? Well, according to prosecutors, it’s because she didn’t want a digital trail of her phone being at her mother’s house during the time of the murder.
But here’s what she didn’t know, and this is what eventually helped convict her. Turning your phone off doesn’t mean it’s invisible. The last ping is recorded. The location is logged. 6:40 p.m. Based on neighbor testimony, Ava’s BMW is seen pulling into Elaine’s driveway. Elaine’s neighbor, Mrs. Lillian Chen, testified that she was walking her dog and saw Ava arrive.
She said Ava waved at her, seemed totally normal, and was carrying takeout bags. Mrs. Chen had no idea she was witnessing the last moments of Elaine Hartwell’s life. Now, what happened inside that house over the next 2 hours is based on forensic evidence, blood spatter analysis, the medical examiner’s report, and Ava’s own conflicting statements.
Because Ava didn’t confess to murdering her mother, she claimed it was self-defense. She claimed it was an accident. She claimed she wasn’t even there. She told three different stories, y’all, but the evidence tells the real story. According to the forensic timeline, Ava and Elaine sat down to eat dinner around 700 p.m.
We know this because the crime scene showed two plates of Thai food on the kitchen table, both partially eaten. Elaine’s plate had her pad Thai. Az had the drunken noodle, but Elaine’s food had something extra. The medical examiner found significant levels of zulpitum, that’s the generic name for ambient, in Elaine’s stomach contents and blood.
Enough to make her drowsy, confused, and unable to fight back effectively. Ava had drugged her own mother. The plan, as prosecutors would lay it out during trial, was this. Get Elaine drowsy and disoriented. Wait for the drugs to take effect. then staged some kind of accident or make it look like a suicide or home invasion. But something went wrong.
Elaine didn’t pass out like Ava expected. Instead, according to the forensic evidence, Elaine got sick. There was evidence of vomit in the kitchen sink. Partially digested food with traces of ambient, which means Elaine figured out something was wrong, and she confronted Ava. Based on blood spatter patterns, the attack started in the kitchen.
There were signs of a struggle. A chair was overturned. Elaine’s phone was on the floor screen cracked like she dropped it or it had been knocked out of her hand, but she never got the chance. The medical examiner determined that Elaine Hartwell died from blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. She was struck multiple times with a heavy object later determined to be a marble rolling pin from Elaine’s own kitchen. Seven blows.
Elaine had defensive wounds on her hands and arms. She fought back. She tried to protect herself, but the ambient in her system made her weak, slow, unable to defend herself properly. The forensic pathologist estimated it took approximately 10 to 15 minutes for Elaine to die. 10 to 15 minutes of terror, pain, and the horrifying realization that her own daughter was killing her.
When this testimony was given during the trial, multiple jurors were seen crying. The judge called for a brief recess. And Ava, she sat there stone-faced. Not a single tear. Remember that. We’ll come back to it. After Elaine died, and this is where Ava’s sociopathy really shows, Ava didn’t panic. She didn’t break down. She didn’t call 911 immediately.
According to forensic analysis, Ava spent approximately 90 minutes staging a home invasion. She wore the gloves she bought at Target. She used the tarp to move her mother’s body. She opened drawers and cabinets to make it look like someone had been searching for valuables. She took some of her mother’s jewelry and hid it in her car to sell later.
She even broke a window from the outside to create a point of entry for the intruder. But here’s where Ava made her first major mistake. She broke the window from the outside, but the glass fell outside. When you break a window from outside, the glass falls inside. Forensic investigators spotted this immediately.
Ava also tracked her mother’s blood through multiple rooms. Even though she wore gloves, she didn’t wear shoe covers. Her sneaker print, a very specific Nike Air Max pattern in size eight, was found in blood near the body. Those same sneakers were later found in Ava’s apartment. She tried to clean them, but luminal testing revealed blood in the treads. 9:47 p.m.
Ava’s regular phone is turned back on. It pings off the same tower near Elaine’s house. At 9:52 p.m., Ava calls 911. And y’all, this 911 call is wild. AVA, help, please help. Someone broke into my mom’s house. She’s hurt. She’s not breathing. 911 operator. Ma’am, I need you to calm down. What’s your location? AVA.
I’m at 4782 Desert Mountain Drive in Paradise Valley. Please send someone now. 911 operator. Okay, help is on the way. Can you tell me what happened? AVA. I came over for dinner and found her. There’s blood. Oh god, there’s so much blood. I think someone killed her. 911 operator. Ma’am, are you safe? Is the intruder still in the house? AVA, I don’t know. I don’t think so.
I just found her like this. 911 operator. Okay, I need you to leave the house immediately and wait for police outside. Do not touch anything. Can you do that, AVA? Okay. Okay. I’m going outside. Please hurry. Now, audio forensic experts later analyzed this call during the trial and they found something interesting.
Ava’s crying wasn’t consistent with genuine distress. The expert, Dr. Sharon Campbell, testified that Ava’s sobbs had a performative quality and that there were moments where Ava’s voice was completely calm between sobs, like she was turning the emotion on and off. She was acting and not even doing a good job of at 9:59 p.m.
Paradise Valley Police Department arrives on scene. Officer Calb Rodriguez was the first responder. His body camera footage was played extensively during the trial. Officer Rodriguez finds Ava sitting on the front lawn, head in her hands, crying. She looks up when he approaches and according to multiple officers who responded, she was surprisingly composed for someone who just found their mother murdered.
Officer Rodriguez asked her what happened. And this is where Ava starts her story, the first version. Anyway, Ava told police she’d come over for dinner around 700 p.m. They ate, they talked. She left around 8:30 p.m., but then she realized she forgot her purse, so she came back around 9:30 p.m. When she walked in, she saw the broken window and her mother lying on the floor.
She didn’t see anyone else. Whoever did this must have left. Sounds plausible, right? Except it’s complete [ __ ] Detectives immediately noted several problems with Ava’s story. Problem number one, if Ava left at 8:30 p.m. and came back at 9:30 p.m., where did she go? Her phone was off. There’s no record of her car being anywhere during that hour.
Problem number two, when police checked Ava’s purse, it was in her car in the front seat, meaning she never brought it inside in the first place. So why did she come back? Problem number three, Ava had no blood on her clothes, but the crime scene was brutal. Elaine had bled out significantly if Ava just found the body and checked for signs of life like she claimed.
Where’s the blood? Detective SGT Naomi Sanchez, the lead investigator assigned to the case, testified that she had immediate suspicions about Ava. She said, and I quote, “In 19 years of working homicide, I’ve seen a lot of family members discover deceased loved ones. Ava’s behavior was off. She was crying, but she wasn’t there. It felt rehearsed.
” Detective Sanchez asked Ava if she would come to the station to give a formal statement. Ava agreed. Probably should have asked for a lawyer, Ava. Just saying. 10:47 p.m. Ava is in an interrogation room at Paradise Valley Police Department. She’s not under arrest. She’s not been read her rights. She’s just helping with the investigation.
For the next 3 hours, Detective Sanchez and Marcus Webb questioned Ava about the evening. And y’all, her story started falling apart fast. Detective s ava, let’s go through the timeline again. You said you left your mother’s house at 8:30. AVA. Yes, around then. Detective s ez around. Can you be more specific? Ava, maybe 8:45.
I’m not sure exactly. Detective Web, your phone was off from 6:24 p.m. until 9:47 p.m. Can you explain why, AVA? It was I I don’t know. Maybe the battery died. Detective Web, we checked. Your battery was at 67% when you turned it back on. AVA then I don’t know. Maybe I turned it off by accident. Detective SHZ. Ava, you told officer Rodriguez you came back because you forgot your purse.
But your purse was in your car the whole time. Why did you really come back? AVA starting to cry. I don’t know. I’m confused. I just found my mother dead. See what the detectives are doing here. They’re poking holes. Gentle at first, just asking for clarification. But each answer Ava gives makes her look worse.
Detective Web, we found a receipt in your car from Target. You bought gloves, bleach, trash bags. When did you go to Target? AVA. This morning. I needed cleaning supplies for my apartment. Detective s. Did you use any of those supplies today? AVA. No, they’re still in the bag in my car. Detective S H EZ.
So you bought cleaning supplies in the morning but didn’t use them. AVA, I was going to clean tomorrow. Detective Web Ava, we also found a prepaid cell phone in your car. Why do you have a burner phone? AVA, I want a lawyer. And just like that, the interrogation was over. Ava lawyered up at 1:53 a.m. on December 11th, 2019.
But the damage was already done. She’d given police hours of inconsistent statements, questionable explanations, and straightup lies. And the forensic evidence was just getting started. Over the next 48 hours, CSI teams processed Elaine’s house. They found Ava’s fingerprints on the marble rolling pin that killed Elaine Ava’s hair on Elaine’s clothing traces of Ava’s DNA under Elaine’s fingernails.
Elaine had scratched her during the attack. The Nike Air Max shoe print in blood matching shoes found in Ava’s apartment. Ambient pills in Ava’s apartment matching the drug in Elaine system text messages on Elaine’s phone showing financial arguments. And then they found the smoking gun. The burner phone records investigators obtained a warrant for the prepaid phone found in Ava’s car.
That burner phone had made six calls on December 10th. Three toarmacies asking about ambient. two to a friend asking about toxicology tests and one to a pawn shop asking about selling jewelry. That last call, it was made at 9:15 p.m. 9:15 p.m. That’s after Elaine was already dead based on the medical examiner’s estimated time of death.
But before Ava called 911, y’all, the coldness, the calculation, the absolute lack of humanity. This wasn’t a crime of passion. This wasn’t an accident. This was premeditated murder for money. December 13th, 2019, 6:42 a.m. Police arrived at Ava Hartwell’s apartment with an arrest warrant. Body camera footage shows Ava answering the door in pajamas, looking shocked.
Ava Marie Hartwell, you’re under arrest for the murder of Elaine Anne Hartwell. Ava’s response, but her hands were shaking. Her voice was cracking. For someone who made a living appearing calm and collected on camera, Ava was falling apart. By 800 a.m., news trucks were outside the police station. By 900 a.m.
, Ava’s mugsh shot was all over social media. By 1000 a.m., her face was on the same news broadcast she used to anchor. The arrest of Ava Hartwell was the biggest story in Arizona since the Jodie Arya’s trial. And ain’t that ironic. Another attractive woman. Another family member murdered. Another Phoenix area case that gripped the nation.
But this time, the accused was one of them. A journalist. Someone who was supposed to report the news, not become it. The reaction online was immediate and it was brutal. Twitter was going insane. Instagram was flooded with comments. Reddit true crime forums were working overtime. I can’t believe I trusted her to tell me the news when she’s literally a murderer.
She always seemed so fake to me. I knew something was off. Her poor mother killed by her own daughter for money. I hope she gets the death penalty. The court of public opinion had already convicted her, but the actual court that was going to take some time. Ava’s first court appearance was on December 16th, 2019.
She was being held without bail. The judge deemed her a flight risk given her financial desperation and the severity of the charges. She was charged with firstdegree premeditated murder, aggravated assault tampering with evidence fraud for the attempted life insurance claims. Ava hired one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Arizona, Graham Klene.
This guy had gotten multiple murder acquitt. He was expensive. We’re talking $500,000 retainer expensive. And you might be wondering, how did Broke Ava afford him? She didn’t. her father did remember Ava’s dad, the one who divorced Elaine when Ava was eight. Turns out he’d made a fortune in tech investments. He was worth about $8 million.
And despite having been largely absent from Ava’s life, he stepped up to pay for her defense. According to interviews Richard gave later, he said, “I don’t know if she did it or not, but she’s my daughter and she deserves a defense.” Okay, fair. Everyone deserves legal representation, but Richard also said, “I know what Elaine was like. She could be difficult.
I wouldn’t be surprised if something happened between them.” While Ava sat in jail awaiting trial, the prosecution’s case was getting stronger by the day. Lead prosecutor Lauren Choy was building an absolutely airtight case. The prosecution had physical evidence. Ava’s DNA under Elaine’s fingernails. Ava’s fingerprints on the murder weapon.
Ava’s shoe prints in the victim’s blood, Ava’s hair, and fibers at the crime scene. Digital evidence burner phone records Google searches about murder and overdose text messages showing financial motive cell phone tower pings placing her at the scene. Financial evidence Elaine’s will showing Ava’s inheritance being reduced.
Ava’s debt totaling $85,000 records of Ava borrowing money from Elaine life insurance policies on Elaine totaling $500,000. Oh yeah. Did I mention the life insurance? Here’s where it gets even more twisted. Elaine had two life insurance policies. One through her real estate company for $300,000 and a personal policy for $200,000.
the beneficiary on both Ava. But remember, Elaine had changed her will just 10 days before her death. However, and this is key, she hadn’t changed the beneficiaries on the insurance policies yet, which means that despite the will being changed, Ava still stood to inherit $500,000 in life insurance money.
And get this, on December 12th, the day after Elaine’s murder, Ava called both insurance companies to inquire about filing claims. Her mother had been dead for less than 24 hours, and Ava was already trying to cash in. The insurance companies immediately flagged this as suspicious and contacted police. Smart move, insurance companies.
For once, the prosecution also had forensic experts who would testify to. Dr. Olivia Grant, medical examiner, testified that Elaine’s injuries were consistent with being attacked by someone she knew and trusted. The angle of the blows suggested the attacker was approximately Ava’s height. The pattern of injuries showed prolonged assault, not a quick attack by a panicked intruder. Dr.
Kevin Ortiz, toxicologist, testified that the amount of ambient in Elaine’s system was not enough to kill her, but enough to incapacitate her significantly. The drug had been crushed and mixed into food based on the partial tablet remnants in her stomach. Dr. Sarah Mitchell, blood spatter analyst, testified that the blood spatter pattern showed Elaine was attacked in multiple locations as she tried to escape.
The blood trails showed she was moving from the kitchen toward the front door, possibly trying to get help when she was struck the final fatal blows. Dr. James Park, digital forensics expert, testified about Ava’s Google searches, the burner phone records and cell phone data that contradicted Ava’s timeline of events.
The prosecution had dozens of witnesses lined up. Meanwhile, the defense had what exactly? Graham Klene, Ava’s attorney, had a tough job. The physical evidence was damning. The digital evidence was damning. The financial motive was clear. So, what was his strategy? Option one, claim Ava didn’t do it and someone else killed Elaine.
Problem, all the evidence points to Ava and only Ava. Option two, claim it was self-defense or an accident. problem. The premeditation evidence, target purchases, burner phone, Google searches makes that nearly impossible to argue. Option three, go for an insanity or diminished capacity defense. Problem: Ava was clearly functioning normally before and after the murder.
She went to work, made rational decisions, covered her tracks methodically. Yep. The defense strategy was going to be painting Elaine as an abusive, controlling mother who pushed Ava to the breaking point. They were going to argue that Elaine’s psychological abuse was so severe that Ava snapped in a moment of extreme emotional distress.
It’s gross, but it’s a strategy. And given that Elaine wasn’t alive to defend herself, it might actually sway a few jurors who have seen too many true crime documentaries about gaslighting mothers. Ava had several meetings with her attorney over the months leading up to trial. According to court documents and later interviews with Klene, Ava wanted to testify on her own behalf.
Klene advised against it, and he was right, too, because Ava had given multiple conflicting statements to police. If she took the stand, the prosecution would tear her apart on cross-examination. But Ava insisted. After all, she’d been acting her whole life, pretending to be the perfect daughter, pretending to be the trusted news anchor, pretending to care about people’s tragedies while planning her own mother’s murder.
What’s one more performance, right? As the trial date approached, both sides prepared their cases. The prosecution compiled. 847 pieces of physical evidence, 63 witnesses, over 2,000 pages of documents, 47 hours of surveillance, and police body camera footage. The defense compiled 12 witnesses, mostly character witnesses for Ava.
Elaine’s medical records trying to show she had been in therapy for anxiety. Text messages from Elaine that could be interpreted as harsh expert testimony about psychological abuse on paper. This was not a fair fight. The prosecution had a mountain of evidence. The defense had a story. But hey, juries can be unpredictable. Just ask Casey Anthony.
Ava spent nine months in Maricopa County Jail awaiting trial. Guards reported that she was a model inmate, quiet, compliant, kept to herself. She received dozens of letters from viewers and fans, some supportive, some hateful. Her cellmate, Rosa Delgado, testified later that Ava would practice crying in front of the small mirror in their cell.
Y’all, she was literally rehearsing her courtroom tears. Rosa said Ava would say things like, “Do you think this looks genuine? And should I cry more or less?” Rosa also testified that Ava showed zero remorse. She said Ava never talked about her mother, never expressed grief, never seemed sad.
The only thing Ava cared about was how she would look to the jury. The media coverage never let up. Every few weeks, there was a new development that made headlines. March 2020, forensic evidence links news anchor to mother’s murder. May 2020, defense claims abuse drove daughter to kill. July 2020, Ava Hartwell to testify in her own defense.
August 2020, trial date set for September jury selection begins. And then just when everyone thought they knew everything about this case, her name was Selena Rodriguez. She was a makeup artist who’d worked with Ava at the TV station, and she had a story to tell. Selena testified in a pre-trial hearing that approximately 3 months before Elaine’s murder, so around September 2019, Ava had asked her a very strange question.
Ava wanted to know if Selena knew anyone who takes care of problems. Selena said she didn’t understand what Ava meant, so Ava clarified. She asked if Selena knew anyone who would hurt someone for money. Y’all, Ava tried to hire a hitman, or at least she was shopping around for one. Selena testified that she immediately shut down the conversation and told Ava she was talking crazy.
Ava laughed it off and said she was just kidding and watching too much Breaking Bad. But Selena never forgot about it. And when she saw Ava’s arrest on the news, she immediately contacted police. This testimony was huge for the prosecution. It showed that Ava hadn’t just snapped in a moment of rage. She’d been planning to kill Elaine for MHS.
She’d explored multiple methods. The defense tried to suppress Selena’s testimony, arguing it was hearsay and prejuditial, but the judge allowed it. Ava’s goose was getting more cooked by the minute. September 14th, 2020, the trial begins. Jury selection took three days because let’s be real, finding people in Phoenix who hadn’t heard about this case was nearly impossible.
Eventually, they seated 12 jurors and four alternates. The jury was seven women, five men ages ranging from 24 to 67, mix of backgrounds, occupations, education levels, all claiming they could be impartial despite the media coverage prosecutor Lauren Choi gave her opening statement on September 17th, 2020.
Lauen Choi, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this is a case about greed, pure greed. Ava Hartwell had everything. A successful career, a loving mother, opportunities most people only dream of. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted money she didn’t earn. She wanted a lifestyle she couldn’t afford. And when her mother, the woman who gave her life, who sacrificed for her, who loved her unconditionally, when that mother decided to stop enabling her financial irresponsibility, Ava decided her mother had to die.
The evidence will show that Ava planned this murder for months. She researched how to do it. She bought supplies. She drugged her own mother. And then when Elaine was weak and vulnerable, Ava beat her to death with a kitchen rolling pin. Ava then staged a home invasion. She tried to cover her tracks. She called 911 and put on an Academy Awardw worthy performance as the grieving daughter.
But the evidence doesn’t lie, and the evidence will show beyond any reasonable doubt that Ava Hartwell is guilty of murdering her mother in cold blood for money. The courtroom was silent. Jurors were taking notes. Some were visibly disturbed. And Ava, she sat there dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, but multiple people testified they never saw actual tears.
Then it was the defense’s turn. Klene stood up, adjusted his tie, and approached the jury box. Graham Klione Ava Hartwell is not a monster. She’s a victim. A victim of years of psychological and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother. You’re going to hear about a relationship that from the outside looked perfect.
Mother and daughter, best friends, successful and happy. But behind closed doors, Elaine Hartwell was controlling, manipulative, and emotionally abusive. She used money as a weapon. She held Ava’s childhood debt over her head constantly. She made Ava feel worthless unless she was achieving, performing, succeeding.
The prosecution wants you to believe this was about greed. But this was about survival. This was about a young woman who was emotionally tortured for years, finally reaching her breaking point. And yes, Elaine died that night, but it wasn’t premeditated murder. It was a tragic accident born from years of abuse.
Okay, so that’s the defense strategy. And honestly, it might have worked if it weren’t for one tiny problem. All that evidence showing Ava planned this for months. The Target shopping trip, the burner phone, the Google searches, the conversation with Selena about hiring someone to hurt somebody. You can’t claim it was an impulsive act of desperation when you literally Googled, “How long does it take to die from overdose?” The afternoon before you killed your mother.
But hey, the defense had to try something. The trial of the decade, the prosecution’s case took four weeks to present. Four weeks of testimony, evidence, forensic analysis, and witnesses that painted an absolutely devastating picture of Ava Hartwell. Let me walk you through the highlights. And by highlights, I mean the moments that made everyone in that courtroom realize just how screwed Ava was.
Medical examiner Dr. Olivia Grant on the stand week one. The forensic evidence Dr. Olivia Grant, the medical examiner, spent two full days on the stand. She showed the jury through diagrams, photos, and 3D recreations exactly how Elaine died. She explained that Elaine sustained seven blows to the head with a blunt object.
The first blow likely stunned her. The second knocked her down. The third through seventh were delivered while she was on the ground trying to protect her head with her hands. She pointed out the defensive wounds on Elaine’s forearms. She was trying to block the blows. She explained that Elaine’s hyoid bone, a small bone in the neck, was fractured, indicating strangulation or manual compression of the throat. Elaine didn’t die quickly.
She suffered. Multiple jurors looked ill during this testimony. Two were crying. Ava, she stared straight ahead, jaw clenched. The prosecution showed the jury crime scene photos, the blood, the broken window with glass falling the wrong direction, the staged drawers and cabinets, and then came the murder weapon.
The marble rolling pin sealed in an evidence bag was passed around to the jury. It was heavy, over three lb. The prosecutor, Lauren Choy, asked Dr. Grant, “With an object this heavy, how much force would it take to cause fatal injuries?” Dr. Grant, not much. The weight of the object does most of the work. It would require significant intent to strike someone seven times with this.
Translation: This wasn’t an accident. Dr. Kevin Ortiz testified about the ambient found in Elaine’s system. He explained that the amount found approximately 60 mg, was three times the recommended dose. That’s enough to knock out a person, make them confused, affect their motor skills. Dr. Ortiz testified that the pills had been crushed.
He could tell from the powder residue in Elaine’s stomach. Someone intentionally crushed those pills and put them in Elaine’s food. The prosecution then presented evidence. The bottle of ambient found in Ava’s apartment with Elaine’s name on it. C. Elaine had been prescribed ambient for occasional insomnia. She’d given Ava a few pills months earlier when Ava complained about sleep issues, but Ava had kept the bottle and she’d used it to drug her mother.
Blood spatter analyst Dr. Sarah Mitchell. Dr. Sarah Mitchell, the blood spatter expert, was honestly fascinating to watch. This woman spent three days using diagrams, lasers, and computer animations to show the jury exactly what happened in that house. She showed how the attack started in the kitchen. Elaine was sitting at the table.
The first blow came from behind or from the side. Elaine stood up. Blood drops showed her movement. She moved toward the hallway. Blood smears on the wall where she tried to steady herself. She made it about 15 ft before she fell. The final blows were delivered while she was on the ground in the hallway. She also testified about the shoe print found in blood.
Nike Air Max size 8 specific model from 2018. The prosecution showed photos of Ava wearing those exact shoes in social media posts from weeks before the murder. Ava tried to claim she had donated those shoes to Goodwill, but lumininal testing showed Elaine’s blood in the treads. Try again, AVA. Week two. The digital evidence doctor, James Park, from the FBI’s digital forensics division, testified about AVA’s digital footprint.
And y’all, this is where modern technology became Ava’s worst enemy. Dr. Park showed the jury a Google searches from December 10th, 6:47 a.m. How much ambient is lethal? 7:12 a.m. Can you die from sleeping pills? 7:34 a.m. How long until overdose takes effect? 2:15 p.m. Do police check phone records? 2:18 p.m. How to delete internet history? 2:45 p.m. Arizona inheritance law. No.
Will 30:01 p.m. Do news anchors go to prison? Pause. 4 seconds that last search. Do news anchors go to prison? Girl, you’re about to find out. Dr. Park also testified about the burner phone. He tracked every call made from that phone on December 10th. 7:23 a.m. Call to Walmart pharmacy 4 minutes 12 seconds. 10:18 a.m.
Call to CVS pharmacy 6 minutes 3 seconds. 11:04 a.m. Call to friend who’s a pharmacist 9 minutes. 47 seconds. 1:47 p.m. Call to friend asking about toxicology. 5 minutes 18 seconds. 9:15 p.m. Call to gold and silver exchange pawn shop. 3 minutes 41 seconds pause. 2 seconds. That 9:15 p.m. call after Elaine was dead was about selling jewelry.
The defense tried to claim Ava didn’t make those calls, that someone else could have used the phone. But Dr. Park testified that the phone was purchased with cash at a Target using Ava’s Target Circle rewards account. So unless someone stole Ava’s phone to use her Target account to buy a burner phone to frame her. Yeah, it was Ava. Dr.
Park also presented cell phone tower data. Ava’s regular phone pinged towers showing her route from her apartment to her mother’s house. It went dark at 6:24 p.m. exactly three blocks from Elaine’s house. It came back online at 9:47 p.m. in the exact same location. The defense argued Ava could have forgotten her phone in the car, but then how did she turn it off at 6:24 p.m.
and turn it back on at 9:47 p.m. if it was in the car the whole time? The defense had no answer for that. Week three. The motive money forensic accountant Thomas Reed testified about Ava’s financial situation. He went through her bank statements, credit card records, loan documents. Ava’s monthly income, $7,916 after taxes.
Ava’s monthly expenses, $9,200 plus. Breaking down her expenses. rent $3,200 BMW lease $850 insurance $200 student loans $400 credit card minimum payments $1,200 shopping/ dining/enter entertainment $2,000 plus gym subscriptions etc $350 plus she was spending $1,300 more than she made every single month. And that had been going on for 3 years.
Thomas testified that Ava had borrowed money from her mother, $20,000 credit cards, $85,000 personal loan, $15,000 friends that she never paid back, $8,000 total debt, $128,000, and her assets, basically nothing. a car she didn’t own, furniture, clothes, and about $347 in her checking account.
The prosecution then presented Elaine’s will, the original will from 2015. Everything to Ava. Estimated value, $1.2 million. The updated will from November 30th, 2019. Half to AVA, half to the American Cancer Society. Estimated value to Ava, $600,000. But the will didn’t control the life insurance policies.
Those still listed Ava as the sole beneficiary, $500,000. So if Elaine died before changing those beneficiaries, Ava gets half a million dollars immediately. The prosecution’s theory. Ava found out about the will change. She panicked. She realized if she didn’t act fast, Elaine might change the insurance beneficiaries, too.
So she killed her mother before that could happen. Cold, calculated, greedy. Week four. The witnesses the prosecution called 37 witnesses over the course of the trial. Some of the most damaging. Maya’s college roommate testified about Ava’s temper, her obsession with money and status, her narcissistic behavior. Dylan Park, Ava’s producer at the TV station, testified that Ava was constantly stressed about money and had asked him if he knew any wealthy single men she could date.
Selena Rodriguez, makeup artist. The bombshell testimony about Ava asking about hiring someone to hurt somebody. Janice Lel, Elaine’s sister, Ava’s aunt, testified about the relationship between Elaine and Ava, said that Elaine loved Ava, but was exhausted by her financial demands. Sobbed on the stand when talking about Elaine’s death. Mrs.
Lillian Chen, neighbor, testified about seeing Ava arrive at Elaine’s house around 6:40 p.m. on December 10th, said Ava waved and seemed completely normal. Carlos Martinez, Home Depot cashier, testified about Ava buying a tarp, duct tape, trash bags, and a utility knife on December 10th, said she seemed nervous and didn’t want to be recognized.
And then came the most emotional testimony of all. Margaret Stevens, Elaine’s best friend of 30 years, took the stand. She talked about Elaine as a person, her kindness, her generosity, her love for her daughter. Margaret testified that Elaine had called her on December 9th, the day before she was murdered.
Elaine said she was worried about Ava. She said Ava seemed unhinged about the will change. But Elaine also said, “She’s my daughter. She’ll calm down. She’ll understand. I’m trying to help her learn financial responsibility.” Margaret broke down, sobbing. I should have told her to be careful. I should have known something was wrong.
Elaine died thinking she was helping her daughter and her daughter killed her for it. There wasn’t a dry eye in that courtroom except Az. She just sat there stonefaced, occasionally dabbing at her eyes with a tissue that never got wet. After 4 weeks and 37 witnesses, prosecutor Lauren Choy stood up. Your honor, the state rests.
Now it was the defense’s turn. And y’all, they did not have much to work with the defense’s case. sympathy for the devil. Graham Klene called only 12 witnesses. Their strategy was clear. Paint Elaine as an abusive monster and Ava as a victim. They called Ava’s therapist, Dr. Patricia Goldman. She testified that Ava had been in therapy for two years dealing with childhood trauma and emotional abuse from a parent figure.
But on cross-examination, prosecutor Choy got Dr. Goldman to admit that Ava never once mentioned wanting to hurt her mother, never expressed violent thoughts, and was highly functional in her daily life. Not exactly the profile of someone driven to kill out of desperation. The defense called three of Ava’s co-workers who testified she was kind, professional, and good at her job.
Cool. But nobody said she was bad at her job. They said she murdered her mother. The defense called a financial expert who testified that Ava’s debt was manageable and not unusual for someone her age. Okay, but that doesn’t explain why she Googled how much ambient is lethal and then her mom ended up dead with ambient in her system.
The defense called two of Elaine’s former co-workers who testified that Elaine could be demanding and tough to work with. again. Okay. Being a demanding boss doesn’t mean you deserve to be murdered by your daughter. The defense’s case was weak and everyone knew it. But then came the moment everyone was waiting for.
Ava Hartwell took the stand. This was either going to save her or destroy her. Spoiler alert, it destroyed her. Ava walked to the witness stand on October 14th, 2020. She was wearing a conservative navy blue dress, minimal makeup, hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. She was going for the innocent victim look.
Her attorney, Graham Klene, conducted direct examination first. Klene Ava, tell the jury about your relationship with your mother. AVA crying or trying to. My mom and I, we were close, but it was complicated. She loved me, but she also controlled me. Everything I did had to meet her standards. K L I N E. Can you explain what you mean by that? AVA.
She paid for everything when I was growing up, but she never let me forget it. She’d say things like, “I sacrificed everything for you, and you owe me. It was constant pressure.” Klene, did you love your mother? Ava Paws, dabs eyes. Of course I did. She was my mom. Klene, Ava, did you kill your mother? AVA looking directly at jury. No, I didn’t kill my mother.
What happened that night was an accident. Okay, so now Ava’s claiming it was an accident. That’s different from the defense’s opening statement that it was self-defense during an abusive confrontation. Red flag anyone. Ava then told her version of events for December 10th. She said she went to her mother’s house for dinner to apologize and reconcile.
They ate, they talked, things were fine. Then Elaine brought up the will change and started berating her about money. Ava claimed Elaine said things like, “You’re a failure. You’re never going to amount to anything and I wasted my life on you.” Elaine’s not here to confirm or deny this conveniently. Ava said Elaine then came at her aggressively. They struggled.
Elaine grabbed a rolling pin. Apparently, Elaine grabbed the rolling pin, not Ava. and Ava had to defend herself. The rolling pin accidentally hit Elaine several times. Elaine fell. Ava panicked and left. Then she realized she needed to call for help. So she came back and called 911. Then came cross-examination.
Visual prosecutor Lauren Choy approaching music. Intense confrontational and prosecutor Lauren Choy absolutely eviscerated Ava. Tone aggressive cross-examination. from Choi. Miss Hartwell, you testified that this was an accident, correct? AVA. Yes. C HI. Then why did you buy gloves, bleach, and trash bags the morning of your mother’s death? AVA. Long pause.
I was going to clean my apartment. Choi. At 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday when you could have cleaned any other day. AVA. I just I needed supplies. Choi. And the burner phone. Why did you need a prepaid cell phone? AVA. I was going to give it to a homeless person. She said she was going to give it to a homeless person.
That’s what she went with. Emphasis. The jury literally laughed out loud. Choi, you googled how much ambient is lethal the morning of December 10th. Why, AVA? I was concerned about my own dosage. Choi, you called three differentarmacies asking about overdose amounts. Why? AVA I I don’t remember doing that.
Ch Hoi, you don’t remember, but you just testified that you remember everything about that day clearly. AVA, no answer. Choi, you called a pawn shop at 9:15 p.m. after your mother was already dead, asking about selling jewelry. Do you remember that, Ava? I was planning to sell some of my own jewelry. Choi. At 9:15 p.m.
, right after finding your mother murdered, your first instinct was to call a pawn shop. Ava, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Choi, you testified that your mother grabbed the rolling pin and came at you, but your fingerprints are on that rolling pin and hers aren’t. How do you explain that? AVA I I must have grabbed it from her during the struggle.
Choi, the medical examiner testified your mother was hit seven times. Seven times. How many times do you have to hit someone in self-defense? AVA. It all happened so fast. I was scared. I didn’t know what I was doing. Choi. You also testified you left after the accident and came back later. Where did you go? Ava, I was driving around trying to calm down.
Choi, but your phone was off, so we have no way to verify that. AVA, I told you it died. C Hoi, it was at 67% battery when you turned it back on. AVA, no answer. Choi, Miss Hartwell, your mother changed her will 10 days before she died, cutting your inheritance in half. You found out about this on November 30th. Correct. AVA. Yes, but that doesn’t Choi.
On December 10th, you killed your mother before she could change the life insurance beneficiaries, too. That’s what really happened, isn’t it? AVA. No, I loved my mother. Ch hoi. You loved her so much you beat her to death with a rolling pin, staged a home invasion, and called pawn shops to sell her jewelry before her body was even cold.
AVA, that’s not what happened, choi. Then what did happen, Miss Hartwell? Because your story keeps changing. Ava broke down completely on the stand. She was sobbing real tears this time, stammering, unable to form coherent answers. Her attorney tried to call for a recess, but the damage was done. Ava had imploded on the stand.
Her testimony had more inconsistencies than a politician’s promise. She had lied so many times she couldn’t keep her own story straight when court adjourned that day. Legal analysts were all saying the same thing. Ava’s testimony had sealed her fate. Justice STVED verdict and aftermath. After six weeks of testimony, hundreds of pieces of evidence, and one completely disastrous defendant testimony, the trial was nearing its end.
Closing arguments began on October 19th, 2020. This was each side’s last chance to convince the jury. Lauren Choi’s closing argument was powerful, emotional, and devastating. l a n ch hoi. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, over the past six weeks, you’ve heard testimony from 49 witnesses. You’ve seen 847 pieces of evidence. And all of that evidence points to one inescapable conclusion.
Ava Hartwell murdered her mother in cold blood for money. This wasn’t an accident. Accidents don’t involve buying gloves and trash bags that morning. Accidents don’t involve googling how much ambient is lethal. Accidents don’t involve burner phones and pawn shop calls. This wasn’t self-defense. Elaine Hartwell was drugged, beaten seven times with a heavy object and strangled.
She had defensive wounds on her arms. She was trying to get away from her attacker. That’s not self-defense. That’s murder. And this wasn’t a crime of passion. This was planned, premeditated, calculated. Ava spent m o and ths thinking about this. She explored hiring someone to do it. When that didn’t work, she decided to do it herself. Why? Money, pure and simple.
Ava Hartwell was in massive debt. Her mother had cut her off. Her inheritance was being reduced. So, she killed her mother before Elaine could change the life insurance beneficiaries. Half a million dollars. That’s what Elaine’s life was worth to her daughter. Ava sat in that courtroom for six weeks and showed no remorse, no grief, no humanity.
She cried when she testified, but the tears didn’t come until she realized her lies weren’t working. Elaine Hartwell deserved better. She deserved a daughter who loved her, who appreciated her sacrifices, who valued her life. Instead, she got Ava. Don’t let Ava get away with this. Hold her accountable. Find her guilty. The courtroom was silent.
Several jurors were crying. Then Graham Klene stood for the defense’s closing argument. Graham Klene E. The prosecution wants you to believe that Ava is a monster. A cold-blooded killer who murdered her mother for money. But that’s not who Ava is. Ava is a victim of years of psychological abuse. A young woman who was raised by a mother who used money as control, who held debt over her daughter’s head, who made love conditional on achievement.
Did Ava make mistakes that night? Yes, she panicked. She made bad decisions. She tried to cover up what happened because she was terrified. But that doesn’t make her a murderer. The prosecution has shown you a lot of evidence. But evidence doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t show you the years of emotional manipulation.
It doesn’t show you the constant pressure Elaine put on Ava. We’re not asking you to excuse what happened. We’re asking you to understand it. This was a tragic accident that happened in the context of an abusive relationship. Ava loved her mother. She didn’t plan to kill her. She certainly didn’t do it for money.
If you have reasonable doubt, and I believe you should, then you must find Ava not guilty. It was a good effort, but everybody in that courtroom knew the defense didn’t have a chance. Judge Marcus Brennan gave the jury their instructions. He explained the charges. Firstderee premeditated murder aggravated assault tampering with evidence fraud.
He explained reasonable doubt and burden of proof. And then on October 20th, 2020, at 2:47 p.m., the jury retired to deliberate. How long do you think they deliberated? Days? Hours? That’s it. Less than 5 hours to decide Ava’s fate. At 7:10 p.m. on October 20th, 2020, word spread that the jury had reached a verdict. The courtroom filled within 30 minutes.
Reporters, Elaine’s family, Ava’s father, spectators who’d been following the case. At 7:43 p.m., the jury filed back into the courtroom. Judge Brennan asked, “Has the jury reached a verdict?” The jury foreman, a 54year-old accountant named William Foster, stood. “We have your honor.” The baleiff took the verdict form and handed it to Judge Brennan. “The judge read it silently.
His face remained neutral. He handed it back to the baleiff.” “The defendant will rise.” Ava stood. Her attorney stood next to her, hand on her shoulder. Ava’s hands were trembling. Her face was pale. For the first time in six weeks, she looked genuinely terrified. The judge addressed the jury foreman.
On the charge of firstdegree premeditated murder, how do you find? William Foster looked directly at Ava. We the jury find the defendant, Ava Marie Hartwell. Guilty. The courtroom exploded. Elaine’s family sobbed with relief. Spectators gasped and cried. Reporters were typing frantically. and Ava. She collapsed, literally crumpled to the floor, screaming, “No, no, no.
” Her attorney tried to help her up, but she was hysterical. Baiffs had to lift her back into her chair. The tears were real now. The emotion was real. Because Ava had finally realized something she’d somehow managed to delude herself about for 10 months. She was going to prison. For life, Judge Brennan had to bang his gavvel for order in the court.
When the room finally quieted, he continued, “On the charge of aggravated assault, guilty. On the charge of tampering with evidence, guilty. On the charge of fraud, guilty. Guilty on all counts. The jury hadn’t just convicted her. They decimated her. They believed the prosecution on every single charge. Judge Brennan pulled the jury individually.
All 12 jurors confirmed guilty on all counts. It was unanimous. Ava was done. Several jurors later spoke to the media about their deliberations. Juror number seven, a 42-year-old teacher named Linda Martinez said, “We all knew she was guilty within the first hour. The evidence was overwhelming. We spent the other 3 hours going through every piece of evidence to make sure we didn’t miss anything, but there was no doubt.
” Juror number three, a 58-year-old retired police officer named Robert Chen said, “The moment that sealed it for me was her testimony. She couldn’t keep her story straight. She lied about everything. The burner phone, the Google searches, the timeline. If it really was an accident, why lie about everything?” Juror number nine, a 29-year-old software engineer named Pria Patel said, “What got me was how calculated it all was.
She bought supplies that morning. She made phone calls asking about drugs. She staged the crime scene. That’s not someone who accidentally killed their mother in self-defense. That’s a murderer. The jury saw right through Ava’s lies. Every single one of them. Sentencing was scheduled for November 18th, 2020. In Arizona, firstdegree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
But the question was with or without the possibility of parole. The prosecution was pushing for life without parole. The defense was asking for life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Before sentencing, Elaine’s family was allowed to give victim impact statements. Elaine’s sister, Janice Lol, spoke first. Elaine was my best friend.
She was an incredible [clears throat] woman, a successful businesswoman, and a loving mother. She gave Ava everything, every opportunity, every advantage. And Ava repaid her by murdering her. I will never understand how a daughter could do this to her mother. Elaine died scared in pain, betrayed by the person she loved most in the world.
Ava doesn’t deserve mercy. She showed no mercy to Elaine. Elaine’s best friend, Margaret Stevens, spoke next. I spoke to Elaine the day before she died. She was worried about Ava, but she still loved her. She said, “I’m doing this for her own good. She needs to learn responsibility.” Elaine died trying to help her daughter become a better person, and her daughter killed her for it.
I hope Ava spends every day for the rest of her life thinking about what she did. I hope she never knows peace. Seven people total gave victim impact statements. All of them asked for life without parole. Ava sat through all of them with her head down, occasionally crying. Then Judge Brennan asked if Ava wanted to address the court before sentencing.
Her attorney advised her not to. She did anyway. Ava stood hands shaking and said, “I know that everyone thinks I’m a monster. I know what the jury decided, but I loved my mother. I never meant for any of this to happen. I made mistakes, terrible mistakes, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.
I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. It was too little too late and frankly nobody believed her. Judge Brennan then delivered his sentencing remarks. Judge Brennan, “Miss Hartwell, I have presided over criminal cases for 23 years. I have seen many types of defendants. Violent criminals, white collar criminals, crimes of passion, crimes of desperation.
But I have rarely seen a crime as calculated and cold-blooded as this one. You didn’t just kill your mother. You planned her death for months. You researched methods. You bought supplies. You drugged her. You beat her to death. You staged a crime scene. You called 911 and performed fake grief. And then you sat in this courtroom for 6 weeks and lied.
You lied to investigators. You lied to this jury. You lied to everyone. You have shown no genuine remorse. Your apology rings hollow. The only thing you’re sorry about is getting caught. Elaine Hartwell deserved better than the daughter she got. This court sentences you to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder charge.
Additionally, 10 years for aggravated assault, 5 years for tampering with evidence, and 5 years for fraud, all to run consecutively. Ava would die in prison as baiffs led Ava out of the courtroom in handcuffs. She broke down completely. She was sobbing, hyperventilating, could barely walk. The woman who’d spent her whole life performing for cameras had just given her final performance, and the reviews were in. Guilty.
Ava is currently incarcerated at Arizona State Prison Complex Perryville, a women’s prison in Goodyear, Arizona. She’s 39 years old now. According to prison records, she has filed multiple appeals. All have been denied. She participates in prison programs, works in the prison library, and keeps largely to herself.
Former inmates who have spoken to media say Ava still maintains she’s innocent, that it was an accident, that the justice system failed her. Narcissists gun a narcissist. I guess Ava’s father, Richard, has not visited her in prison. He released a statement saying he made a mistake in funding her defense and that he now believes she is guilty.
The TV station where Ava worked scrubbed all of her broadcasts from their archives and issued a statement apologizing to viewers for employing someone capable of such a heinous act. Ava’s story has been featured on several true crime shows, podcasts, and documentaries. Elaine’s family established a scholarship fund in her name for students studying real estate and business.
And the house where Elaine died, it sold in 2021 for significantly below market value. Murder houses tend to do that. So, what can we learn from this case? Psychologists have analyzed AVA extensively. Dr. Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist, wrote an analysis of the case for a psychology journal. He identified several key psychological factors.
Narcissistic personality disorder. Ava exhibited classic signs. Grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy, sense of entitlement, financial sociopathy. Ava had no moral framework around money. She saw it as something she deserved, something others should provide, something worth killing for. Compartmentalization. Ava was able to separate her public persona, carrying news anchor from her private self.
This type of compartmentalization is common in whitecollar criminals but rare in violent offenders. Familial homicide for financial gain. This is actually more common than people realize. About 10% of homicides in the US involve family members and money is a motive in approximately 30% of those cases. The scary part Ava wasn’t some obviously disturbed person.
She was successful, attractive, articulate, charming. Evil doesn’t always look like a monster. Sometimes it looks like the nice lady reading you the news. Were there warning signs? Absolutely. Financial irresponsibility combined with refusal to accept consequences viewing relationships as transactional lack of genuine emotional connection to others.
Anger when not getting her way. history of manipulation and lying entitlement mindset. But here’s the thing. Lots of people exhibit some of those traits without becoming murderers. The difference with Ava was the combination of all of them. Plus financial desperation plus access to a victim who trusted her.
It’s a perfect storm that rarely happens. But when it does, the results are deadly. Elaine Hartwell was 59 years old when her daughter murdered her. She was a successful businesswoman, a beloved friend, a devoted mother. She spent her life building something, achieving success, and trying to raise her daughter to be a good person.
She died scared, confused, and betrayed. Ava Hartwell was 34 years old when she became a murderer. She had every advantage in life, education, opportunity, support, love. She threw it all away for money she didn’t earn and didn’t deserve. This case is a reminder that evil doesn’t always announce itself.
Sometimes it wears a nice suit and reads you the news. Sometimes it sits across from you at Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes it’s the last person you’d ever suspect. So, what do you think, folks? Do you think Ava is a coldblooded killer who deserves to rot in prison? Or do you think there’s any truth to her claims of abuse and accident? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
I genuinely want to know what y’all think about this case. If you’re new to Women Justice Files, make sure you hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications. We cover the most compelling, most shocking, most unbelievable cases of women who have committed crimes. And trust me, we’ve got some wild ones coming up. If you enjoyed this deep dive, give this video a like.
It helps the algorithm god smile upon us. Next week, we’re covering a case that’s somehow even more twisted than this one. A woman, a best friend, a betrayal that ended in murder and a coverup that lasted 20 years. You’re not going to want to miss it. Remember, folks, not all monsters look like monsters. Some of them look like Ava Hartwell.
Beautiful, successful, trustworthy. Until they’re not. Stay safe out there, and always, always trust your gut. This has been Women Justice Files. I’ll see you in the next one. This video is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. All information presented is based on publicly available court documents, news reports, and trial testimony.
We strive for accuracy, but this is a retelling and interpretation of events. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse or financial abuse, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline 18007997233 the National Alliance on Mental Illness 18009506264. Thank you for watching Women Justice Files.
Until next time, stay curious, stay safe, and remember, the truth always comes out eventually.
