Nearly 15 years after an Iowa realtor was gunned down while hosting an open house in broad daylight, police say they have arrested a suspect in the case.
West Des Moines police arrested 53-year-old Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey Tuesday and charged her with the murder of Ashley Okland, officials announced at a press conference.
Okland, 27, was showing a model townhouse on Stone Creek Court in West Des Moines on April 8, 2011, when she was shot twice, according to Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa.
An employee with Rottlund Homes who heard a commotion found Okland on the floor and called 911. She later died at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
The killing, at around 2 p.m. on a Friday, shocked the community and remained unsolved for years despite its brazen timing.
Ramsey has been charged with first-degree murder following an indictment by a grand jury in Dallas County, Iowa.
Assistant Police Chief Jody Hayes, who has worked the case since the beginning, said investigators chased thousands of leads and reviewed “countless” pieces of evidence over the years. He said it was an “unrelenting pursuit of justice” that ultimately led to Ramsey’s arrest, but declined to provide additional details.
“Ashley’s story has kept many of us awake at night, revisiting the details over and over in our minds, searching for that missing piece that would tie everything together and lead us down the right path to identifying a person who was responsible for this act,” Hayes added.
At the time of Okland’s death, Ramsey worked as an administrative assistant and sales manager for Rottlund Homes, the developer of the townhome where the shooting occurred, according to her LinkedIn and a source familiar with her work history, the Des Moines Register reported.
“Everyone within Iowa Realty and related companies was relieved for the family of our friend and colleague Ashley Okland that an arrest was made for her murder,” a company spokesperson told the newspaper.
“Her tragic passing was something that not only deeply impacted our company and community, but the national real estate world as a whole.”
Ramsey is being held in the Dallas County Jail in Iowa on a $2 million cash-only bond.
Chief Hayes added that “as significant as this arrest is, our work is not done yet.”
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