DA won’t seek death penalty for October Clearlake Oaks shooting spree
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The district attorney said this week that he will not seek the death penalty for the man who killed his own father and a friend, shot a woman and a California Highway Patrol officer, and shot at several others in an October shooting rampage.
Alan Leroy Ashmore, 61, of Clearlake Oaks is facing 21 felony counts, a misdemeanor and two dozen special allegations for the shootings, gas station robbery and setting two wildland fires that occurred on the morning of Oct. 23.
Among the special allegations is one for multiple homicides, which District Attorney Don Anderson told Lake County News in a previous interview makes Ashmore eligible for the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.
However, this week, Anderson told Lake County News, “We will not be pursuing the death penalty.”
Anderson said of Ashmore, “He’s an old man,” who has very little criminal background before the shootings.
Ashmore is charged with killing his 85-year-old father, Douglas Ashmore, and his longtime friend, 64-year-old Richard Eugene Braden, as well as shooting Cantra Hoeck in the foot.
CHP Officer Steven Patrick arrived at the scene and met with witnesses who told him about the shootings, Anderson said.
Patrick drove on and saw Ashmore’s SUV at the intersection of Anchor Village and Keys Boulevard. Anderson said Patrick got out of his car, and that’s when Ashmore shot at him with a shotgun.
Anderson said the shotgun slug ricocheted off the CHP car’s door frame and hit Patrick’s bulletproof vest in the abdominal region.
Despite being injured by the slug’s impact, Patrick got back in his car and joined the pursuit that ultimately captured Ashmore. Patrick’s commander, Lt. Hector Paredes, has called Patrick’s actions heroic.
During the time he was at large, Ashmore shot at a number of other individuals, robbed a gas station and led authorities on a chase in which he lit two wildland fires before surrendering at a roadblock on High Valley Road.
In November Ashmore entered a not guilty plea in the case.
He was back in court on Jan. 30, at which point Anderson said his preliminary hearing was set for Feb. 22.
Anderson said the last of the sheriff’s office investigative reports have come in on the case, and they’re about an inch and a half thick.
He said the charges against Ashmore so far remain the same, but Anderson said his staff will be doing “heavy review” of the case as they prepare for the preliminary hearing and trial.
Anderson said he had considered taking the case to a criminal grand jury, but has so far decided not to pursue that avenue, at least not yet.
“We’re not going to do the grand jury as long as the prelim goes within a reasonable amount of time,” Anderson said.
Andrea Sullivan is Ashmore’s attorney.
“We’re ready to go,” she said in looking ahead at the preliminary hearing.
“There’s a lot of witness statements and a lot of reports,” she said, with a total of about a dozen witnesses and multiple crime scenes to take into consideration.
“From the defense point of view, the preliminary hearing is probably one of the easier parts so it, because we’re not obligated to put any testimony on,” Sullivan explained.
Another development in the case is that Patrick returned to work on Jan. 23, exactly three months after he was injured in the shooting.
“He’s back working the road and he’s OK,” said fellow CHP Officer Joe Wind, one of the agency’s public information officers.
Wind said the pool car that Patrick was driving had to have its door replaced due to the damage from the shotgun slug that ultimately hit Patrick.
“He’s very, very lucky,” Wind said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.