Attorney: Prescription drugs, marijuana led Vandergrift woman to kill cousin

The lawyer for a Vandergrift woman told a Westmoreland County jury Thursday that marijuana, combined with medications she takes for ongoing mental health issues, left her unable to form an intent to kill her cousin nearly four years ago.

“She was suffering from an altered state of consciousnesses,” defense attorney Pat Thomassey said during his opening statement to jurors in the first day of the trial for Ashley Croft.

Croft, 38, is charged with first-degree murder and a general count of criminal homicide in connection with the Oct. 18, 2018, fatal shooting of her cousin, John Edward Smail of Greensburg. Smail, 31, was found dead in the doorway at the back of Croft’s Longfellow Street apartment.

Police contend Croft shot Smail three times, and prosecutors said they will argue that her actions were intentional.

“What you’re not going to hear is why,” said Assistant District Attorney Theresa Miller-Sporrer.

Croft’s upstairs neighbor, Marissa Wiles, testified she saw Croft in her yard holding a gun shortly after 10 p.m., just moments before she heard gunfire.

“She said, ‘Call the cops, call the cops. He’s trying to kill me,’” Wiles said.

Wiles testified she and her fiance at the time saw Croft moments later, after the shooting.

“All that she would say at that point was, ‘I can’t believe I shot him,’” Wiles told the jury.

Miller-Sporrer said that when questioned by police after the shooting, Croft claimed she and her cousin had smoked marijuana before she fell asleep. Croft said she awoke, had trouble breathing, confronted Smail and threatened to kill him.

Police detectives testified that Croft offered no explanation for the shooting and appeared distraught. While being held at the Vandergrift police station, they said she briefly became unruly and shouted at officers.

Miller-Sporrer said that during an interview with investigators, Croft admitted to shooting Smail.

“She said, ‘If I am going to die tonight, so are you,’” Croft would later tell police, Miller-Sporrer said.

Investigators said Croft fired her first shot, hitting Smail in the chest. Two more shots were fired, including one that was fired in a downward trajectory, prosecutors said.

The defense counters

Thomassey described Croft as a woman who had no previous history with law enforcement and as someone who has struggled with mental health issues since the age of 12.

At the time of the shooting, Croft was under the influence of as many as 10 prescribed medications in addition to marijuana.

He said evidence will show that Smail’s killing was neither premeditated nor was done with malice, both elements needed to prove first- and third-degree murder.

Croft in 2019 rejected a deal offered by prosecutors in which she would plead guilty to third-degree murder and receive a 30- to 6o- year prison sentence.

Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears said no evidence will be presented in the case on Friday. Testimony will resume Monday, according to the judge.