Ashley Grayson Murder-for-Hire Case Summary:

Social media influencer Ashley Grayson was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in commission of murder-for-hire. The 2022 case involved three targets: business rival Derricka Harwell, ex-boyfriend Patrick Tate, and TikTok critic Sherell Hodge. Olivia Johnson recorded the plot on FaceTime, leading to Grayson's arrest and conviction in Memphis federal court.

Key Facts:

• Federal murder-for-hire conviction (18 U.S.C. §1958)
• Five-minute recorded FaceTime call as primary evidence
• $10,000 cash payment captured on surveillance
• Trial held March 2024; sentencing October 2024
• Documentary true crime podcast with court transcripts

Resources: 📄 Download official source docs on the episode page or sign up for episode alerts at TrueCrimeUnheard.com 💬 Have feedback or questions? Use the comment form at TrueCrimeUnheard.com

When Adult Victim 1 punched through a metal door with her bare hands and climbed a fence to freedom, she set in motion a reckoning that would expose a decade-long pattern of violence.

In this final episode of our three-part series on Negasi Zuberi, we take you inside the federal courtroom where justice was finally delivered. But what the jury never heard during trial—and what prosecutors revealed at sentencing—changed everything.

Court documents show that Zuberi's 2023 kidnappings in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, were not isolated incidents. In 2017, at age 23, he was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl. Four years later, in 2021, he was convicted in California of assault for soliciting sex from another 16-year-old and beating her in a remote area of Alameda County.

At that 2021 sentencing, a California judge warned Zuberi directly. According to court records, the judge expressed concern about the pattern of behavior and feared something "really, really bad" might happen if Zuberi didn't change course. He was sentenced to probation.

Two years later, Adult Victim 2 reported her kidnapping to Klamath Falls police. Officers struggled to make contact. Evidence wasn't collected. That two-month delay gave Zuberi time to finish building the concrete cell that would imprison Adult Victim 1.

This episode explores the courtroom testimony, the victim impact statements that brought federal marshals to tears, and the life sentences that ensure Zuberi will never walk free again. We examine what happens when systemic failures are finally confronted—and when survivors' voices are finally heard.

This is the story of how justice catches up.

🎧 **This is Episode 3 of 3** in "The Cell" series. If you haven't heard Episodes 1 and 2, start there for the complete story.

📄 All details in this episode come from federal court documents, trial transcripts, and official records. Full source links and case files available at TrueCrimeUnheard.com.

💬 Have questions or feedback? Use the comment form at TrueCrimeUnheard.com/contact—your question might be featured in a future episode.

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On May 11, 2023, Adult Victim 2 walked into the Klamath Falls Police Department with bloodied clothes and a detailed account of her assault by Negasi Zuberi. Officers were reluctant to follow up. They didn't collect the evidence.

For the next two months, Zuberi made documented trips to Home Depot, purchasing concrete blocks, lumber, insulation, and deadbolts. His own security cameras captured him building. Amazon records show leg irons and handcuffs. GPS data placed him surveilling potential victims. By July 15, when he drove 450 miles to Seattle to kidnap Adult Victim 1, the concrete cell was ready.

This is the story of what happened between those two kidnappings—the construction phase, the digital trail, and the system failure that gave a predator exactly the time he needed.

In the final episode: The trial, the verdict, two jail escape attempts, and the haunting question—what happened to Quinn and June, the women on his targets list?

This is True Crime Cases You Haven't Heard—storytelling-first true crime about overlooked cases with deep institutional and legal dimensions.

All details in this episode come from court documents, official records, and sworn testimony. Full source links at TrueCrimeUnheard.com. https://truecrimeunheard.com