Ashley Voss, center, appears holding her two young boys; her alleged killer, Aurelio Diaz, appears inset on the right. (GoFundMe; Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
A Florida man killed a woman he hardly knew with a shot to the back just moments after speaking with his friend – a friend who also happens to be the father of the victim’s child, law enforcement alleges.
The father has not been charged in connection with the murder of his child’s mother and is considered a witness in the case, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office criminal report affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
But, to hear the witness-father tell it, the violence allegedly stemmed from a prank he had planned – albeit a prank that quickly went horribly awry.
Aurelio Diaz, Jr., 32, stands accused of one count of premeditated murder in the first degree, according to the HCSO, for the fatal July 20 shooting of Ashley Voss, 22, a mother of two young boys.
During the early morning hours, a 911 call was made, but “the caller was not responsive,” the affidavit says, and “dispatchers overheard a yawning sound.” Roughly 21 minutes later, deputies arrived to find Voss, slumped over in the front seat of her silver Nissan Altima parked in the driveway of her grandmother’s home.
Voss had a lone gunshot wound to the back and the rear window of her car had been shattered. She was dead by the time first responders arrived.
“Detectives noted the victim was sitting on her cellular phone, which was powered on,” the affidavit reads. “Detectives were able to access the phone and confirm numerous back-and-forth text messages.”
That text message conversation, deputies allege, was between the victim and the father of Voss’ younger boy. The victim, after getting off work, decided to sit in her car in the driveway at the house on Orange Street, because it was “too comfortable,” she told the man.
According to the HCSO, the conversation “ended temporarily” at 1:14 a.m. and picked back up “without the victim answering” at 1:27 a.m.
Meanwhile, law enforcement obtained two separate pieces of surveillance footage from the area – from two separate houses – that showed two men walking around between roughly 12:20 a.m. and 1:14 a.m.
According to the HCSO, a man is seen on one of the videos “directly next to the Nissan Altima and appears to discharge a firearm one time” before running north on Orange Street, out of the camera’s view.
The shooting occurred, deputies say, at 1:14 a.m.
During an initial interview, the father allegedly told deputies he and the defendant had been in the area that night. And, when shown one of the videos, but not the shooting, identified himself and Diaz.
“The witness later stated the defendant called him to pick him up and they went to the 7-11,” the affidavit reads. “The witness stated he then dropped the defendant off at this [sic] four-door Acura vehicle, and the witness left the area.”
The witness next picked his friend out of a lineup, the HCSO says, and then indicated that he wanted to make an additional statement.
According to the father of the victim’s younger child, he brought Diaz to Voss’ neighborhood in order for the defendant to play a prank.
“The witness stated when he picked up the defendant they planned to go to the victim’s residence and for the defendant to defecate on the victim’s front porch,” the affidavit reads. “The witness pointed out the victim’s residence, and the defendant later exited the witness’ vehicle to defecate on the victim’s porch. The witness stated at no time did he talk to the defendant about killing the victim, shooting the victim, or harming the victim. They were only playing a ‘prank’ to have the defendant defecate on the victim’s porch.”
According to the affidavit, the witness eventually made a “controlled phone call” to Diaz that was recorded by law enforcement. The defendant, at one point during the call, allegedly tells the witness: “I did it just like I told you, walked up to the back window, and boom.”
But the victim’s family thinks something is amiss.
“There was no motive,” Rhonda Voss, the deceased woman’s grandmother, told Tampa Bay-based Fox affiliate WTVT. “Diaz did not know actually her. Well, he knew her, but they were not close. You know, it’s not something where something could have happened or something could have transpired that would have made him murder her.”
Ashley Voss was in Rhonda Voss’ driveway the night she died. Now, her grandmother is taking care of the 22-month-old who just lost his mom; Voss’ maternal grandmother is taking care of the 4-year-old.
“Diaz had no motive to shoot my granddaughter,” Rhonda Voss reiterated and clarified in similar comments to local NBC affiliate WFLA. “He barely knew her. He knew of her. She knew of him but only because him and the baby’s father were very good friends.”
As for the father, according to the HCSO, investigators say they also learned, through the victim’s family, that he had allegedly “threatened her in reference to an ongoing child support issue.”
“How can you participate as much as he did in a prank or whatever they want to call this crime?” Rhonda Voss asked – before alleging in comments to WTVT: “He had active participation.”
Law&Crime reached out to the HCSO for additional details on this story but a spokesperson said the request had to be transferred to their open records department due to the nature of the inquiry.
“Ashley was a loving mother,” Rhonda Voss told WFLA. “Her life was her two children. She was just a typical 22 year-old-girl, you know, she did absolutely nothing to deserve this.”
The victim’s family has set up a GoFundMe to help defray the cost of funeral expenses and to help provide for her sons.
“Ashley was a devoted mother, daughter, sister, and friend whose vibrant spirit brought joy and happiness to everyone she touched. She had dreams and aspirations, and her love for her children knew no bounds. Losing her has left an immense void in our lives, but we are determined to honor her memory by ensuring that her children are given the best possible chance to thrive despite the tragic circumstances they now face,” the fundraiser reads. “In these difficult times, let us stand together as a community, united by empathy and compassion, to uplift the lives of Ashley’s children. No child should suffer the loss of a parent in such a tragic manner, and it is our collective duty to show them that love and support still exist in this world.”
Diaz is being detained in the Hillsborough County jail without bond.
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