IA: REALTOR MURDER CASE/WOMAN SEEKS DISMISSAL
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Lawyers for a woman accused of killing an Iowa realtor in 2011 say the prosecution’s key eyewitness changed their story in the days after the killing.
Kristin Ramsey is accused of killing Ashley Okland on April 8, 2011, while Okland was holding an open house at a townhome in West Des Moines. Ramsey was arrested nearly 15 years later and charged with first-degree murder.
Now, Ramsey’s lawyers are arguing for the case to be thrown out due to inconsistencies with what it calls “the State’s only eyewitness.”
Ramsey’s lawyers argue the witness, who was not identified by name in a motion to dismiss filed Friday, told police on multiple occasions that Ramsey did not arrive to the scene until after the shooting.
“On April 9, 2011—the day after the murder—the neighbor gave a third statement,” the motion reads. “She once again told Detective [Jeff] Lyon … that about ‘3 minutes after hearing the noises she noticed a white female drive up to unit 558 in a silver 4 door car and enter the unit. [The neighbor] said seconds after the women entered the building she observed the same female run from the building and drive away in her car very quickly.’ … Again, according to the neighbor, Ms. Ramsey did not arrive to the scene until after the shots were fired.”
The motion then details how the neighbor’s story changed a few days later. According to Ramsey’s lawyers, a detective told the neighbor she was “the prime suspect” on April 14. The neighbor’s story then changed, according to the defense, and she omitted details about seeing Ramsey drive up several minutes after the shooting, instead focusing her story on seeing Ramsey outside the townhome minutes later.
The neighbor also had a traumatic brain injury that impacted her memory, according to the defense:
“During the interview, the investigators, including Detective Lyon, pushed the neighbor on the inconsistencies in her statement, such as her now inability to recall the color of the cars outside the townhome,” the motion reads. “She responded by saying that ‘I had a concussion from a fractured skull, I do have some memory problems . . . I spend a lot of time, on things, like, I see trying to remember things.'”
When interviewed again by investigators in 2025, nearly 15 years after the shooting, the neighbor, now living in Florida, told investigators she did not remember who Ramsey was, according to the defense.
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