Morehouse woman found guilty of murdering her grandmother

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A Morehouse, Missouri, woman was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of her grandmother.

Ashley M. Riggins, 37, was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of abuse or neglect of child for the Aug. 3, 2020, stabbing death of 74-year-old Dottie Lutes. The case was heard without a jury before Circuit Judge Ed Reeves on April 20.

New Madrid County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Lawson, who was assisted in the case by New Madrid County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Austin Crowe, called eight witnesses in the trial. Riggins' attorneys T.J. Houck and Kayla McKenzie did not call any witnesses and Riggins exercised her right to remain silent and did not testify.

On Aug. 3, 2020, law enforcement officers were notified Lutes was missing. After receiving a search warrant to enter Lutes' residence, officers found blood in her bedroom, drag marks with blood leading from the bedroom to the exit of the residence and a large bloody kitchen knife with a broken handle.

Officers located Riggins and her boyfriend, Rayshand Lyons, in Charleston, Missouri, where they were taken into custody.

Lyons would later tell police the couple had planned to rob Lutes and steal her gun. Lyons stated Riggins woke Lutes and they both stabbed her. When Lutes fought back and called for help, Lyons said he knocked Lutes to the floor where Riggins continued to stab her.

The couple then rolled the woman into some carpet and put her in the car. At that time, Lyons said Lutes' abdomen was still moving and he heard her exhaling.

He said he and Riggins drove to Charleston where they left Lutes' body in a field. The body was then located by law enforcement.

Lawson described Lutes' murder as brutal and tragic.

"Not only did this defendant murder her own grandmother, she forced one of her children to watch and she forced another one of her children to help carry their great-grandmother's body out of the house. Although the trial is over, they will have to live with this trauma for the rest of their lives," he said.

Riggins' sentencing on the charges is set for 1 p.m. Monday, June 12. Lawson pointed out the only possible sentence for first-degree murder is life in prison.

On March 17 in Pemiscot County, Lyons pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Lutes' death, and to escape from confinement with a deadly weapon for breaking out of the Mississippi County Jail in November 2020. He received the maximum possible sentence of 30 years on the charge of second-degree murder and a 20-year sentence on the escape charge with the sentences to run consecutively for a total of 50 years.