What happened to Ashley Voss? Florida man arrested in connection with the murder of young mother

On July 20, 22-year-old Ashley Voss was fatally shot. She was found dead in her car, which was parked in her driveway, with a gunshot wound. Two men, Aurelio Diaz Jr. and Phillip Stapleton, have been taken into custody in connection with the killing and charged as well.

Trigger warning: The article contains references to gun violence. Readers' discretion has been advised.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Stapleton, who was arrested on Monday, faces several charges, including one count each of principal murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. Diaz was arrested on Thursday, July 20, at about 8:30 pm local time. He has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder.

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The second suspect, Phillip Stapleton, is the father of Ashley Voss' younger son

Ashley Voss was fatally shot in July, and two men had been suspected of being involved in the shooting. While one of the suspects, Aurelio Diaz Jr., was arrested soon after Voss' murder, somewhere nearer to the crime site, Phillip Stapleton was arrested on Monday.

According to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister,

"This arrest is another example of the tenacity with which our detectives continue to pursue leads to crimes here in Hillsborough County. Our team works each tip relentlessly to remove any danger they can to the community that we serve."

Diaz reportedly shot Ashley Voss, who had just parked her car in the driveway of her grandmother's house on the 4000 block of Orange Street. Paris Dube, Voss' child's grandmother, stated that she saw on then Ring video that a man came near Ashley's car and shot her. Dube added:

"For whatever reason you felt like you needed to do that, she was a mom, she was a really good mom. She loved her boys, and now they're never going to know her."

It was also revealed that Phillip Stapleton was the biological father of Ashley Voss' younger son. In the last few moments before her death, a text conversation was discovered between the two, where Voss was seen telling him that she was going to hang out in the car for some time since it's comfortable there.

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The victim's grandmother stated that Diaz did not know Ashley Voss very well

According to a criminal affidavit,

"Detectives noted the victim was sitting on her cellular phone, which was powered on. Detectives were able to access the phone and confirm numerous back-and-forth text messages."

Stapleton claimed that Diaz shot Voss when he was only supposed to pull a prank by defecating on the front doorstep of Voss' grandmother's house. He then drove Diaz to another neighborhood, but they didn't discuss anything about the alleged violent shooting. The affidavit further read,

"[Stapleton] stated at no time did he talk to the defendant about killing the victim, shooting the victim, or harming the victim. They were only playing a ‘prank’ to have the defendant defecate on the victim’s porch."

Stapleton has also been accused of threatening Voss in connection with some child support issues before she died. Rhonda Voss, Ashley's grandmother, claimed that Diaz didn't know the victim that well, so he couldn't have had a motive for shooting her. A GoFundMe page was also launched to meet the victim's funeral expenses.