Ashley McCoy was 26 and living in Virginia Beach in early 2023. She and her partner, 24-year-old Elizabeth Ashe, shared an apartment on Mineola Drive. On the morning of February 11, 2023, a neighbor called emergency services just after 8:30 a.m., reporting that Ashe had accidentally shot her partner.

Police found Ashe performing CPR on McCoy. McCoy had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the back of the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ashe told officers she had been cleaning her gun, believed she had removed all the bullets, and that the weapon discharged while McCoy was lying in her lap. Ashe was taken into custody and initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and discharging a firearm within an occupied dwelling.

In October 2023 Ashe pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a building; a sentencing hearing was scheduled for December 14, 2023. If anyone knew Ashley or has information about what happened that morning, please share what you know.