(jacksonville.com)A Jacksonville woman pleaded guilty Monday to murdering a Sudanese refugee and agreed to testify against her co-defendant.
Ashley Nicole Jerrell, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery and grand theft auto in the Sept. 19 killing of Isaac Gideon Siliman, 37. She will testify against Merlin Williams Jr., 32, at his first-degree murder trial in June, said Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda.
Siliman was beaten to death with a hammer in his Southside apartment during a robbery, one of about 20 immigrants slain over a five-year period. He had fled the violence of his war-torn homeland to seek a better life in Jacksonville. He worked at Swisher International and was trying to save money to retrieve his wife and children from Sudan.
Circuit Judge Charles Arnold scheduled Jerrell�s sentencing for June 10. She faces up to life in prison. Williams faces a possible death sentence, de la Rionda said.