Travis Nelson, a 41-year-old Black man, was killed in Flagstaff, Arizona, in a fatal encounter that unfolded in the early morning hours of May 13, 2021. The incident came to the attention of law enforcement shortly after 2:00 a.m. when a woman entered a Walmart on South Woodlands Village Boulevard and asked employees to call the police for her.
When Flagstaff Police officers arrived at the store, the woman, 36-year-old Ashley Nicole Martin, told them she had just shot someone.
She then led the officers to a nearby urban trail, situated between the Walmart and Beulah Boulevard, where they found Nelson’s body. Martin stated that she and Nelson had been in an altercation that ended with her fatally shooting him.
Detectives responded to the scene to investigate, and Martin was taken to the police department for questioning. She was later arrested and booked into the Coconino County Detention Facility. Prosecutors formally charged Ashley Martin with second-degree murder in connection with Travis Nelson's death.
Martin initially pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, and her defense attorney indicated that they would argue she had acted in self-defense. A year later, the case saw a major development. In May 2022, Martin, then 37, entered into a plea agreement filed in Coconino County Superior Court. She pleaded "guilty except insane" to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a class 2 felony. The plea acknowledged that her mental state likely played a part in the killing. As of that month, the plea agreement had been filed with the court.
