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Writer's pictureMahnaz Shaw

Murder in Miracle Village

Updated: Feb 16, 2022

TW - Mentions of Sexual Assault, Mild Violence, Blood


On the 14th of September, the body of Ashleigh Jones was found in the quiet community of Miracle Village, Florida. Cause of death: three stab wounds to the chest and stomach.


Miracle Village, Florida, is home to a wide spectrum of non-violent offenders; their crimes ranging from statutory rape to public urination in front of children. The isolated community was founded by Richard Witherow in 2009, in response to Florida’s stringent laws that limit where offenders live. Notifying public officials whenever they move, following a strict 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, not residing within 1000 feet of a school, playground, park, or day care centre, are just some of these.


Authorities found Ashleigh Jones, resident of Miracle Village, dead in the bathroom of her one-bedroom apartment. They had a suspect right away—Dave Rodriguez. I guess the only reason he was the first suspect was because he was new here, and the residents were quick to blame the unfamiliar man. But he had a solid alibi, so never mind him, he’s not important in this story.


Just because it happened here, doesn’t mean a resident did it. People can move in and out freely. It could have been a revenge kill by a victim of the resident. But of course the police thought a resident did it. I mean this is Miracle Village, everyone is a suspect in the eyes of the police. But Ashleigh was definitely not murdered by an outsider. How do I know that? Because, well, I did it. And I am going to get away with it.


You may ask, why did I do it? Why did I kill Ashleigh? There isn’t really an elaborate story I can tell you. No, it wasn’t a mistake, I meant to do it. No, I wasn’t jealous of her. She wasn’t anything special. And that’s a stupid reason to kill someone anyway. I wouldn’t call it self defense either. She didn’t attack me. You see, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had these urges, I guess. To stab someone, repeatedly; see the blood flow out of their bodies, feel the life slowly drain out of them. You know what I’m talking about. I guess that’s psychopathy. I’m not sure, I haven’t had a formal diagnosis. What I’m trying to say is I killed her because I wanted to.


You may ask, why her?. What was so special about her? Did I know her? I can honestly say that I had never even spoken to Ashleigh before. I didn’t even know who she was, until last month, when I saw her at the police station. Miss Ashleigh Jones: teacher at Hillview High School; single; lives alone in her tiny apartment. It’s a sad story of how she came to live in Miracle Village. She was caught in quite the compromising position with her under-age student. How scandalous. Anyway, so why did I choose to kill her? And yes, it was a conscious choice. Simply because she was easy prey. She had a faulty alarm system in her apartment, and had no living relatives. Also, people here didn’t really like her. Apparently, she thought herself better than everyone else. So, who would really miss her?


You may ask, how did I do it? How did I murder Ashleigh? Well, it is surprisingly easy to buy a sharp knife here. All I had to do was go to the store, get a hunting knife, and BAM! I had the murder weapon. It took a little bit of patience, and a lot of stalking, to determine when exactly Ashleigh would be asleep. After that, it was easy to get into her apartment. As I said, dear Ashleigh had a faulty alarm system. When I say faulty, I mean that it doesn’t work at all. For someone who has non-existent security measures, she slept rather peacefully. I had already planned where to stab her. Her stomach and chest. She didn’t even get to scream. In mere seconds, her room had been painted red and life had drained her out. I didn’t feel remorse or regret. All I felt was insurmountable joy.


You may ask how did I get away with murder? I binge-watched How to Get Away with Murder.


Okay, it’s a good show and I definitely recommend it, but honestly, it wasn’t much help here. But I’m very smart, so I came up with a plan. A step-by-step description of what I was going to do. And it worked out perfectly. All it took was a strand of hair, a well-timed whisper that Ashleigh had been seeing someone, and a hundred dollars to her neighbour to tell the police how he heard Ashleigh fighting with someone late at night. That’s it. The police had a suspect, evidence and motive. Allen Parks was arrested two days after the discovery of the body of Ashleigh, and charged with second-degree murder. Mr. Parks was the principal of the school where Ashleigh worked. No one really saw it coming, but it wasn’t really surprising. Mr. Allen was known to have a temper.


If I had known how easy this would be, I would never have waited till now. I would have never controlled my urges. It saddens me to even think about all my lost chances at true happiness. Because now I know what true happiness feels like. And I know that there is only one path to happiness. It may be messy, bloody and completely illegal. But I know that I will do anything to feel like this again. Happy. Free.


You may ask who am I? That’s one secret I’ll never tell.

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