Mom Smothers Her “Psychic Devil Baby” For Jesus

Mom Smothers Her “Psychic Devil Baby” For Jesus

March 27th, 2022. Just after midnight, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a strange call. The caller claimed a newborn was brought into the emergency department of Mountain View Hospital. The father, whose name has been redacted from official reports for his privacy, stated that the baby was born at home and that the mother had refused to enter the hospital.

The mother, later identified as 23-year-old Ashley Hollingsworth, was last seen walking southbound through the hospital parking lot. It was believed that Ashley was bleeding profusely, so time was of the essence. Officer Peek responded to the call and secured the couple’s vehicle whilst waiting on a search warrant. Additionally, the officer reviewed security footage of the couple arriving at the hospital, confirming that Ashley had fled the scene on foot.

Officer Peek and other officers initiated a search for Ashley, which included the police’s missing persons detail. Eventually, Ashley was located by Officer Damrosio approximately two and a half hours later. She had walked a mile and a half down North Tanaya Way and was found, per Google Maps, at a Chevron gas station.

Ashley was dressed in gray sweatpants with a large bloodstain on her crotch. Her sweater was pulled over her face, exposing herself. Fearful of the officers, Ashley refused to remove the sweater from her face. Officer Damrosio detained Ashley and removed the sweater, exposing a large contusion to the left side of her head. Paramedics transported her to University Medical Center (UMC) on Charleston Street to be treated for her injuries.

An emergency medical specialist at UMC Trauma, Dr. James Prey, stated no fractures to Ashley’s skull were found and that there were no significant findings in the CT scan of her head. He also stated that it was very possible her injuries could have been self-inflicted.

While at UMC, Ashley told police and hospital staff that she had been “beaten up by a rock.” Additionally, Ashley continuously talked about prophecies and other religious ideations with the nursing staff. At that point, officers knew that they were dealing with a much more serious situation, and detectives were requested to assist in a possible child abuse (CA) investigation.

At approximately 5:00 a.m. the same day, Detective Hanning of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department interviewed Ashley’s boyfriend, who was still at Mountain View Hospital with their newborn. He told detectives that the two of them lived together in an apartment located at 355 East Primm Boulevard in the small casino town of Primm, which is located on the Nevada-California state line. Primm is something of a stopover for those traveling to and from Vegas from California; you’ll remember it from the Sherrice Iverson episode.

On Friday, March 25th, he and Ashley traveled to Las Vegas to stay with his aunt and uncle, Gil and Ruby Avenado. The purpose of the trip was so Ashley could be closer to a hospital while they waited for their baby to be born. Even though the distance between Primm and Las Vegas is only a 41-minute drive down Route 15, it’s 41 minutes of desert, and there were no closer hospitals.

That same night, he took Ashley to Mountain View Hospital after she believed she was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. Ashley believed that the nurses at Mountain View were being mean to her, so he took her to Centennial Hills Hospital. There, she was seen and eventually discharged at approximately 3:30 a.m. on March 26th.

The boyfriend went on to tell the detective that he had left Ashley with his aunt Ruby, but his aunt soon called him, telling him to come home immediately. She was concerned because Ashley was saying some pretty strange things. When he arrived home, Ruby told him that Ashley believed her baby was evil.

At around 7:00 p.m. that evening, Ashley asked him to punch her in the face. When he refused, Ashley allegedly punched herself two times on the right side of her face with a closed fist. However, she did not leave any marks. She also stated that she was ready to go to heaven. He said a short time later, Ashley laid down next to him and thanked him for not punching her in the face.

At around 10:55 p.m., Ashley awoke saying she needed to use the bathroom. He stated that he heard what he described as Ashley pushing, but simply thought she was straining while making a bowel movement. Around three minutes later, he heard a baby crying and promptly entered the bathroom. He said he observed Ashley standing, facing away from the toilet with a confused look on her face. The baby was lying on her back inside the toilet. The father picked up the baby, whose head had thankfully not been submerged in the water.

Around this time, Ashley delivered what he believed to be her placenta. He claimed that the umbilical cord had been severed and then flushed down the toilet. The new father brought Ashley and their newborn baby girl to Mountain View Hospital. While en route, Ashley held her baby in her lap wrapped in a pink blanket.

Somewhere near West Craig Road and North Decatur Boulevard, he realized that his daughter had stopped crying. The father looked over and saw that Ashley had wrapped the pink blanket around the baby’s head and was pushing it against her tiny face. He managed to get her to stop, and Ashley claimed the newborn was a “devil baby” and that she needed to kill it.

A short time later, he noticed that the crying had stopped once more and observed that Ashley was yet again attempting to smother the baby girl. This time, he took the baby from her arms and held her on his lap for the remainder of the car ride. He estimated that Ashley had smothered their baby for approximately 10 seconds.

When they arrived at the hospital, Ashley retrieved a black Adidas bag from the vehicle and fled on foot down North Tanaya Way. The father let her go; he decided it was far more important that the baby be seen for medical treatment. She was admitted to the hospital, where medical staff were concerned that she had suffered a brain bleed and a brain injury due to a lack of oxygen. However, it was later determined that, thankfully, she was unharmed.

At around 6:00 a.m., detectives received a search warrant for the maroon 2014 Ford Edge that the couple had arrived in. Numerous bloodstains were located inside the vehicle, including on a towel. Additionally, detectives were given consent to process the Avenado home.

After speaking with the baby’s father, Detective Hanning spoke with the nursing staff at Mountain View Hospital to collect additional evidence. Charge nurse Rosanna Passantini provided the detective with both the pink blanket she had been wrapped in, as well as a yellow baby shirt. Both had been stained with blood.

At around 9:00 a.m. the same day, Detectives Hanning and Garrett also conducted interviews with Gil and Ruby Avenado. The couple confirmed that Ashley had given birth in their guest bathroom and that she had been acting abnormal prior to giving birth. Ruby stated that Ashley had claimed there was something evil in her stomach and that it was trying to kill her baby.

On March 29th at 10:30 a.m., Detective Hanning conducted a recorded interview with Ashley at UMC. She was read her Miranda rights, which she claimed to understand. Ashley confirmed her identity and stated she had two other kids, both of whom lived with their father in California. She had been with her current boyfriend for two years. She had been prescribed medication to treat a condition; however, she had not taken that prescription during her pregnancy.

Ashley said that although she did not have any medical complications during her pregnancy, there was a spiritual battle going on inside her. She went on to explain that she had to hold her breath and pinch her nose to make her body “hot enough for Jesus to fight the devil inside of her.” She went on to say that Jesus was fighting the devil in an attempt to send the devil to hell. Ashley said that Jesus worked “good magic” on her baby and that her baby was now okay.

She then described how her baby was born in the toilet. She was bothered by the fact that the baby was clean and not covered in “white stuff,” as she described it. She repeatedly questioned whether the baby was an innocent angel due to being born outside the presence of doctors and due to the fact that she wasn’t crying.

When Ashley left the house to go to the hospital, she admitted that she was feeling okay. However, as they were driving, she stated that she felt triggered. She recalled thinking, “This baby’s kind of probably evil.” She went on to question whether or not she was a good baby because, according to Ashley, babies should be crying when they are born and should not be as clean as hers was.

She went on to state that she thought she had an evil baby because the baby was flicking her tongue at her and making grunting sounds. She also added that her eyes were black and that she was not making eye contact. Finally, Ashley was upset by the scent of her baby. She described the scent as abnormal, like something “not good.”

After seeing the baby’s eyes, smelling what she described as an abnormal scent, and hearing the baby grunting at her, it was then that Ashley decided to put a blanket over her head. She stated that she had held the blanket tight as the baby kept grunting at her, but claimed that she had to let it go because she didn’t want her daughter to die.

In the beginning of the interview, Ashley told police that she only wrapped the blanket around the baby to hide her face, but later admitted to pinching the blanket several times. She admitted that she knew if she continued to do this, her baby would die. She told the detective that she would feel regret for the rest of her life if she had killed her daughter.

In a later interview, Ashley stated that she had not been truthful in her description of what had happened on the way to the hospital. Ashley admitted to the detective that she felt her baby was going to start doing things to everyone—start making people kill one another. Due to this, she felt like she needed to take her out. She admitted that she attempted to kill her baby two times by wrapping the pink blanket around her head and pinching her nose.

On the second attempt, the baby’s father intervened. She continued by stating that the baby wasn’t making her do anything and that she had acted on her own accord. It was her own decision to try to kill her daughter.

When Detective Hanning asked her why she hadn’t been truthful prior, she admitted that she was feeling guilty and didn’t want to get into trouble. However, Ashley claimed that she ran away from the hospital because she felt the need to self-harm, due to the fact that she thought she had hurt her daughter. On the other hand, she claimed she thought her baby would somehow follow her and hypnotize her. Due to this, Ashley claimed she felt the need to remove her clothing, later finding new clothes in a tunnel as she ran away.

Soon, Ashley made the decision to end her own life. She found a rock, which she described as being about 10 inches in diameter, and repeatedly smashed it into her face and head approximately 15 times. As she was hitting herself, she remembered thinking, “Why am I not dying?” She described being a little dizzy, stating that she hit herself hard enough to lose consciousness, but never did. In speaking to the events that transpired after her daughter was born, Ashley stated:

“I felt like I was guilty for it. I was fighting it. I was fighting that battle not to do it, and that’s why I ran and hurt myself.”

Per the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department declaration of arrest report, Ashley was charged with attempted homicide and first-degree child abuse or neglect. She was arraigned on Monday, April 4th, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. and was held without bail until her arraignment.

Surprisingly, there hasn’t been any additional information released about Ashley’s case. We’ve checked numerous inmate listings for Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, and the surrounding areas, but there isn’t a listing for an Ashley Hollingsworth anywhere. Social media did provide some clues, however.

Ashley’s Facebook had been updated with a new cover photo as recently as November of this year, and her bio lists the dates of birth for all three of her kids. It would be reasonable to assume that she’s probably out on bail at this time. Her Facebook displays a beautiful young mother who took pride in her appearance, with family and friends that clearly adored her, and pictures of her two little ones—a son and another daughter.

So, what makes a seemingly normal mother of three suddenly snap to the point where she thinks she’s carrying an evil baby?

Throughout our body of work, we’ve spoken at length about postpartum depression and psychosis, which occurs in roughly 1 in every 1,000 deliveries. The onset is usually sudden, and symptoms can include delusions, paranoia, or hallucinations, among others. The most significant risk factors are a personal or family history of bipolar disorder or a previous psychotic episode.

Was Ashley suffering from postpartum psychosis? It’s certainly possible. This case leaves us with so many more questions than when we started. We’ll certainly keep an eye out for updates as they come out, but so far, it looks like this case is being kept pretty quiet.

One thing that can be said for certain, however: it is a blessing the baby’s father managed to wake up as Ashley was giving birth. Who knows what would have happened to that baby girl if he hadn’t.