Carolyn Sue Smith, the mother of murder victim Ashton Glover, thought this holiday season might be different. “It will never be the same without her, but I had hoped for a little peace and a little rest. Then, one of Ashton’s MySpace friends, who now lives in Huntsville, contacted me asking if I knew the state planned to release Sean Brown on parole. He hasn’t even served a year of his sentence and they are planning on releasing him. I need everyone to write letters and send e-mails to the state parole board. This has devastated all of Ashton’s family and friends and is a slap in the face to the detectives and prosecutors who worked on her case,” Smith said.

Smith said after the young woman contacted her, she immediately called the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office to see if they were aware of the forthcoming parole hearing.

“They were totally blindsided too. They didn’t know, but they were going to check to see what was going on. In the meantime, I called the state to find out and about two weeks ago they finally sent me some paperwork informing of the plan to have a parole hearing for Sean Brown. I am so infuriated with the justice system,” Smith said.

Ashton Glover was a 16-year-old Clements High School student when her life was cut short by two friends, both fellow students. Glover had gone to a coffee shop in Sugar Land to visit with her friends that Friday night in July 6, 2006. It was the last time the young woman, who was less than a month away from celebrating her 17th birthday, would be seen alive.

Two days later Ashton’s body was found in a shallow grave by a construction worker in the county, just shy of the Sugar Land city limits. It was later determined that two of Ashton’s friends, Sean Brown and Matthew McCombs, were involved in Ashton’s murder. McCombs admitted to shooting Ashton in the head and entered a plea bargain agreement that netted a long prison term. Brown pleaded to a lesser charge of “tampering with evidence” and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The teen said he killed Ashton to see what it was like to kill someone because of “morbid curiosity”, records show. Both young men, who were 18 at the time of the senseless killing, fled the area and were apprehended two days later at the United States—Canadian border as they tried to enter that country.

Brown is up for parole in January of 2009. He is currently being held in the Newton Unit, which is east of Jasper.

Smith and other friends and family members said they were all of the understanding that it would be at least five years before Brown could be considered for parole. He was sentenced to prison in March of 2008 and, if released in January would have served less than a year behind bars.

Smith is asking for residents and community members to write the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and protest the parole. She said letters have come in from as far away as China, from various congressional representatives and local officials, but the parole board is often concerned with how members of the community react to plans to release an inmate back into that particular community so she would like as much citizen input as possible.

“I am asking everyone to write and voice their objections to Brown being released. I also would like for everyone to take the time now to write a letter objecting to any future release of Matthew McCombs. He isn’t up for parole until 2031 and I personally hope I am in heaven by then, but I would like to see him stay behind bars for the whole time,” Smith said.

Please send letters to:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Victim Services Division

8712 Shoal Creek Blvd. Suite 265, Austin, TX 78757-6899

Or via email: victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us<mailto:victim.svc@tdcj.state.tx.us>

Offender Sean Brown TDCJ #1491487

Also write in reference to: Mathew McCombs TDCJ# 1464051

Smith says all letters written by individuals protesting the release of inmates go in the file “forever” and are not discarded.