CLEVELAND - Ashley Smith, 17, who was being held on a five-year juvenile detention term when she escaped Wednesday, was apprehended Thursday evening in Marion, officials report.
"At approximately 5 p.m. tonight employees from McDonald's at 1600 Marion Mount Gilead Road in Marion thought they recognized Smith. Smith had left the Applewoods Center in Cleveland last night, where she was being detained. A McDonald’s employee called the Marion County Central Dispatch Center to report the sighting," a news release from the Marion County Sheriff's Office said.
Plainclothes detectives went into the restaurant and made contact with the girl and confirmed that she was Smith. Smith confirmed her identity, officials said, but no other statements were made. Deputies took Smith to the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center on an Ohio Department of Youth Services Order of Apprehension that had been issued for her.
"Throughout today officers and deputies from the Marion City Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the MARMET Drug Taskforce were investigating and following up on leads that were coming in on social media and other sources. The Ohio Department of Youth Services was notified of Smith’s apprehension. This incident will continue to be investigated and any additional charges that might be filed will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office," the release said.
Smith was sentenced in July 2014 after being convicted of complicity to aggravated murder in the 2012 death of her stepfather, Allan Brown.
She was being held at Applewood Centers in Cleveland and was last seen around 6:55 p.m. Jan. 27, according to a Facebook post by the sheriff's office.
Kim Jump, spokeswoman with the Ohio Division of Youth Services, said Smith was at a supervised exercise class at a recreation center and ran away. While staff pursued, they lost sight of her. Before the incident, Jump said, officials had no issues with Smith's behavior.
"(There was) nothing that led staff to think this would happen, that's for sure," Jump said.
The Cleveland Police Department was immediately notified of the escape, according to Jump, and police and parole officials were searching for Smith in the Cleveland area.
According to Marion County Prosecutor Brent Yager, Smith and four adults, all of whom have been convicted, played a role in Brown's murder. Brown, 61, was beaten with a baseball bat and then stabbed multiple times, Yager said.
Justin J. Miller and Taylor E. Sherman both pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence and were sentenced to life in prison. Amanda Brockman was found guilty of complicity to involuntary manslaughter, and Grant R. Blackwell was found guilty of obstructing justice.
Yager said Smith told Sherman and Brockman she could get them $10,000 from Brown's life insurance policy and that Smith did not like her stepfather, so "there's a little bit of both incentives."
Efforts by Yager and the prosecutor's office to try Smith as an adult were not successful.
shickey@marionstar.com
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Twitter: @SpenserHickey
