By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
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First published: Thursday, July 15, 2010
In the end, it may have been kindness that caused the Father's Day stabbing deaths of a Steuben County woman and her 3-month-old son, allegedly at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, the baby's father.
It was shortly before 11 p.m. on June 20 when Trieste Rene Clayton, 25, and Xavier Michael Ashline were killed in the kitchen of their rented duplex in the village of Bath. Bryan M. Ashline, 23, of Watervliet, is charged two counts of murder.
Christina Lambert, 26, of Latham, disapproved of her dear friend's relationship with Ashline. She talked recently of her own distrust of him and of what he might do to Clayton.
"A couple of days before she was murdered, she texted me that 'I'm finally happy,'?" Lambert recalled. "She had told Bryan they would never be together."
Yet "she wanted to be a good mother and have him see his son" on Father's Day, Lambert said. "Her compassion killed her in the end."
"My heart and mind and gut tells me from that text that she stood up for herself, and he couldn't take that, because she had always been timid with him," the friend said.
"He grabbed a kitchen knife," Lambert said officials told relatives.
Village Police Chief David Rouse has said a knife was recovered at the scene, but he declined to give details about the weapon.
Lambert flashed back to last Aug. 18, when, she said, Ashline, having learned Clayton was pregnant, came home to their Watervliet apartment drunk and beat, choked and kicked her. He was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree harassment.
On Nov. 24, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault count and was issued a five-year order of protection, according to Watervliet City Court records. Ashline had been on three years of probation since 2007, when he pleaded guilty to burglary and harassment in an unrelated case.
Steuben County District Attorney John C. Tunney said he expects the double-murder case to be presented to a grand jury this month. He said last week he was awaiting an autopsy report on the victims and declined to discuss specifics of the case.
Ashline, a standout basketball player and 2004 graduate of Watervliet High School, is being held without bail at the Steuben County Jail on two counts of second-degree murder. He was arraigned June 21 and appeared again June 28 before Bath Town Court Justice James H. Burns where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Assistant Public Defender Thomas Stahr was assigned to represent Ashline. Several attempts were made to reach Stahr without success.
Troopers arrested Ashline around 5 a.m. June 21 as he slept at a Unadilla, Otsego County, rest area on Interstate 88 after allegedly leaving Bath a few hours earlier. The 2010 blue Chevrolet Impala he had borrowed to drive from his 23rd Street home in Watervliet to Bath, about 60 miles south of Rochester, was tracked by the car's OnStar vehicle security system.
"There was evidence of the incident in the car in which he was found," Tunney said. "Clearly, there was evidence obtained. A search warrant was executed on the car, and evidence pertinent to the investigation was found in that vehicle."
When the call came from Clayton's family that her friend was dead, Lambert immediately drove to Bath to be with Clayton's mother, Cynthia Watson, and her sisters.
Watson, a math teacher at Haverling High School, said Friday in a phone interview that Clayton was the oldest of her three daughters. The girls also have two stepbrothers, she said.
Watson said she's been advised by authorities not to talk about the incident, but was told by officials that Ashline used a kitchen knife.
Lambert and Clayton developed a friendship two years ago when they worked together in a Troy bar, where Lambert was a bartender and Clayton a server. Both had psychology degrees, Lambert from the University of Albany, Clayton from Alfred University, from which she graduated in 2006.
"She moved here to relocate from a small town," Lambert said. When the two women met, Clayton had been dating Ashline for a few months.
Clayton lived in Troy until she and Ashline moved in together in Watervliet. While their apartment was being renovated, Clayton lived for a time with Ashline's family, Lambert said.
"He was very possessive and jealous of friendships," Lambert said. "I was never allowed at the house, even though I would still go, he didn't want me there."
"She's not an argumentative person," Lambert said of Clayton. "She's sweet, soft-spoken, the kindest girl I will ever meet."
After the August attack, Lambert said, she took pictures so Clayton could get an order of protection. She received a "no-illegal-contact order," which meant the couple could continue to see each other as long as certain activity, such as harassment, stalking, assault, menacing and intimidation did not occur, Watervliet Police Chief Ronald Boisvert said last month.
"That day (in August) was the final attack," Lambert said. "The next day her family came and brought her back to Bath."
The friends talked daily, and Lambert visited Clayton and the baby. Lambert adored Xavier, who was born in March. Everything centered on her baby, Lambert said. That is evident from Clayton's Facebook writings and the photos of the mother and child.
The mother and baby were buried in the same coffin. Included were messages written by Lambert. To her friend she wrote, "I saw in you a quiet strength, unmatched compassion and intelligence, and a beauty that went far beneath the surface. You were the most loyal and caring friend I could have ever asked for, and you will continue to be that special friend to me until my last breath."
Carol DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.
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