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Analyst: Surveillance footage key in Ashland Walmart murder trial

Posted at 12:20 AM, May 07, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-07 00:23:00-04

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- The murder trial of the woman charged in a deadly shooting outside the Walmart in Ashland in February of 2017 is scheduled to begin in Hanover County on Monday.

Officers found 25-year-old Ashley Fricke suffering from a single gunshot wound inside her car in the superstore parking lot on Feb. 18, 2017. She died at the scene.

Ashley Fricke

Ashley Fricke

Police later charged 24-year-oldBrittany Wiggins with first-degree murder. She is also charged with maliciously shooting at a vehicle, using a firearm while committing a felony and firing from a vehicle.

Sources at time of the shooting told CBS 6 that it may have stemmed from road rage and investigators said Wiggins and Fricke did not know each other.

With Wiggins' trial scheduled to begin Monday, CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said prosecutors have to prove to jurors her intent in the shooting.

Once key piece of evidence is surveillance footage from the parking lot before and during the shooting.

"These days there is surveillance video all over the place, so it's very possible it was captured on a security camera," Stone said. “A prosecutors is going to be looking to tie this all together."

Brittany Wiggins

Brittany Wiggins

Wiggins has been represented in the case by defense attorney Joe Morrissey.

Morrissey said said his client did not intend to shoot Fricke and that Wiggins fired a warning shot after two men were harassing her for being a lesbian.

"Without any specific evidence of that, it's a tough thing to make that pitch to a jury," Stone explained.

Stone said to prove that theory, the defense must either put a ballistics expert on the stand or Wiggins herself.

"The defense could always put on the client and have the client testify this what happened in the parking lot,” Stone said.

Wiggins’ trial in Hanover Circuit Court is scheduled to last four days.

Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for continuing coverage of this important local story. 

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