Woman sentenced to life in prison for grandmother’s murder

NEW MADRID COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) - A woman found guilty of murdering her grandmother was sentenced to life in prison.

Ashley Riggins was sentenced Wednesday morning, September 6 to life without parole for count one, 30 years for count two, 10 years each for counts three and four, seven years for count five and seven years for count six. According to court records, counts one, two, three, four and six will run consecutively and count five will run concurrently.

Riggins was found guilty in April for the 2020 of stabbing her grandmother, Dottie Lutes, while she slept.

According to online court records, Riggins was found guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, tampering with evidence and abuse or neglect of a child.

Court documents state Riggins, along with her boyfriend Rayshand Lyons, rolled Lutes in an outdoor carpet before driving her to Charleston, Missouri and leaving her body in a field.

The charges of child abuse are due to three children being present in the home at the time of the alleged crime.

Earlier in 2023, on March 17, Rayshand Lyons, of Morehouse, entered a guilty plea for second-degree murder in Lutes’ death.

The judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison, which will run consecutively to the 20 years he received for a felony escape or attempted escape from confinement with deadly weapon, dangerous instrument or by holding hostage.

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