The people involved in this case are Ashley Jones and her mother Marsha Allen. Marsha was married to Harold Allen. Ashley had previously been married to man named Tyrson Jones, who died in 2019.
We will start with Tyrson’s death. We can’t find much online about his death at all.
According to WHAS 11, Tyrson was found dead just days after he received an inheritance from his great grandfather.
Ashley did not tell Tyrson’s family about his death for days after it happened. Tyrson’s uncle William White said “She had his body cremated quick, fast and in a hurry before the family could even ask for an autopsy or have anything done about it.” Ashley told his family that Tyrson had died from alcohol poisoning.
Harold died on December 20, 2022. The Jackson County Sheriff responded to a call at his home of an unconscious person. Officials said they believe Harold was dead before the 911 call was placed. They said at the time, no foul play was suspected.
Harold “Peanut” L. Allen, Jr., 52, of Freetown, Indiana passed away suddenly Tuesday, December 20, 2022.
Born September 29, 1970 in Scottsburg, Indiana, he was the son of the late Harold L. Allen Sr. and Carolyn (Lyttle) Allen, who survives.
He was an employee of Aisin USA
Survivors include his wife, Marsha Allen, Freetown, Indiana, his mother, Caroline Allen, brothers, James (Hannah) Allen, Matthew (Samantha) Allen, two nieces and a nephew, Elijah, Lilah, and Norah Allen, step-mother, Sherry Allen.
It seems like there wasn’t much investigation into Harold’s death, until the following year, 2023.
On September 19, 2023, Marsha reported that her home had been burgled. Police investigation determined that two men, Steven White and Nathaniel Napier had committed the crime “at the direction of and with the assistance of” Ashley, Marsha’s daughter.
During the robbery, firearms and jewlery were stolen. When police questioned Steven, he told them that Marsha had “murdered her husband by poisoning him somehow.” He alleged that Marsha had put ethylene glycol into a root beer float after Ashley purchased the substance.
Police started looking into Harold’s death. They found messages between Marsha and Ashley, where they discussed murdering Harold via poisoning.
Police executed a search warrant at Marsha’s home. They seized electronic devices and questioned Marsha on September 20, 2023.
Ashley was arrested on October 3, 2023 in relation to the burglary.
Soon after the police operation, Marsha’s family contacted the sheriff’s department and said they had been unable to contact her.
Police went to perform a welfare check and found Marsha deceased.
“Upon arriving at Marsha’s home, officers found Marsha deceased with no signs of violence,” authorities said.
This is Marsha’s obituary:
Marsha Allen, 52, of Freetown, Indiana passed away Monday, October 16, 2023.
Born July 12, 1971 in Scottsburg, Indiana, she was the daughter of Allen and Teresa (Watts) White.
She was a Medical Assistant at First Urology in Seymour, Indiana
Survivors include her son, Jamie Allen Buxton of Seymour, Indiana, daughter, Ashley Nicole Jones of Missouri, grandchildren Violet Ann Lynn Jones, Gabriel Allen Buxton, and Hazel Ruth Ann Buxton, her parents, Allen and Teresa White of Austin, Indiana.
Marsha’s cause of death was suicide by overdose.
Ashley interviewed with police on October 17, 2023 (one day after Marsha died) and told them that Marsha was the one to actually put the poison into Harold’s food and drinks, but she did admit to being the one who ordered the poison.
Police conducted an investigation and in August 2024, Ashley was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder resulting in death and consumer product tampering resulting in serious bodily injury.
During the investigation, police uncovered emails from an account linked to Ashley, as well as multiple communications between her and Marsha where they discussed four additional attempts to poison Harold.
In one of the texts, the two discuss purchasing foxglove seeds, which officials described as a toxic plant that can kill a person if it is ingested. In a review of Marsha Allen’s Google account, the documents said reported searches included “how much foxglove is fatal?,” and “how long does foxglove take to kill you?”
Authorities discovered that Ashley ordered pong pong seeds from eBay in September 2022. Pong pong seeds are a brown, oval seed that yield Cerberin, a substance that causes the “disruption of cardiac electrical activity” and has been used in suicides and homicides in places like India, southeast Asia and east Africa.
The bitter taste of pong pong seeds could be masked by herbs and spices and the seeds can be added to food. If someone ingests the seeds, they may suffer from nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, followed by heart-related symptoms.
The seeds arrived at Marsha’s home in October 2022. Ashley and Marsha ground up the seeds in a coffee grinder and put them into a batch of brownies in November 2022.
Between November 12 and November 19, Ashley and Marsha continued to discuss Harold’s murder. Ashley texted Marsha saying, “That’s always gonna be there ya know people always want it this is time sensitive the big plan.” Ashley texted again saying, “One shot.”
“It should be noted that Marsha (Allen) sends (Jones) a photo message of what appears to be Harold (Allen) on November 26th. In the photo, there is a half-eaten brownie on a paper plate sitting on Harold’s stomach,” court documents read. “Harold became sick after eating the brownie and ended up in the emergency room the next day.”
Ashley and Marsha discussed how long the process was taking.
“I am irritated and can’t sleep peacefully,” Marsha said to Ashley in a message on Nov. 28, 2022. “I need this to be over… I wish it would reach its climax and be done lol.”
“Agreed,” Ashley responded.
Harold continued to show symptoms and went back to the ER on November 30. He was released from hospital after doctors said he had an inflammatory intestines-related condition.
After the pong pong seeds did not work, Ashley placed an Etsy order for water hemlock on December 1, 2022.
According to court documents, water hemlock is “the most violently toxic plant that grows in North America and only a small amount of the toxic substance in the plant is needed to produce poisoning in livestock or humans.
Symptoms in water hemlock poisoning include:
Nausea
Abdominal pain
Epigastric distress
Flushing
Dizziness
Death
According to a document from Oregon State University, it only takes a piece of root the size of a walnut to kill a 1,200-pound cow or horse.
On Dec. 2, Ashley texted Marsha, “You can’t touch the plant.”
They then texted each other that they will need to wear gloves to handle the plant. Ashley sent a message again and said, “I know I need to wear gloves and have some time alone to prepare the root.”
The water hemlock was delivered to Marsha’s home on December 8, 2022. Ashley and Marsha tried to poison Harold with it by putting it into his chili on December 9, his soda on December 10 and a margarita on December 12.
After none of these attempts worked, the two texted again. Ashley said to Marsha “I still wanna just finish it ya know lol.” Marsha replied, “Lol yes I know and so do I tbh.”
Ashley and Marsha then ordered ethylene glycol on December 13, 2022. They paid $31.99 for half a gallon of it. The order included a phone number which was the same as the number that Ashley had texted Marsha from.
Officials found that Ashley had ordered the substancel via email with the address of “topazmoonchild1793”, but was masked by an additional email using Apple’s “Hide My Email” feature. This hidden email had the address of “mouths-sloop.0o.”
Texts from December 19 indicated that the two planned to put the ethylene glycol into Harold’s root beer float.
Ashley texted her mother, “The mail is here :)” on Dec. 19, which Marsha replied to with a “love” emoji. Marsha texted her later that same day, saying, “Hes [sic] all in for root beer floats.” They then allegedly exchanged information about the root beer floats, including photos and sizes of cans.
After Marsha put the substance into his drink, she texted Ashley and said that Harold was acting ‘drunk and loopy.’
He died the following day, December 20. Police allege that “Five hours passed before Marsha (Allen) called an ambulance, by which time Harold (Allen) was deceased.”
Police also uncovered communications between Ashley and one of the burglars, Steven. Ashley told Steven that Marsha would not have ‘succeeded’ without her.
“…We both know that b—- wasn’t the one planning (it),” one of the texts read. “She just f—— f—– it all up. Made it less lucrative. Wouldn’t even make it go get a will… She couldn’t get into a dead man’s phone without me to get all his retirements and savings he had hidden. Hell, she got $4,500 from his PayPal cc cause I showed her how to scam it as him before they find he’s gone. She’s fake af… She didn’t gimme s— out of that.”
“Ahahah yeah she ain’t gonna be able to do [redacted] she wouldn’t even have succeeded with this last thing without me I planned it all,. She was gonna use insulin like 1983 oh it’s not traced,” Ashley’s text said. “So something else was hatched and we both know that [redacted] wasn’t the one planning ect she just [redacted] [redacted] it all up made it less lucrative wouldn’t even make it go get a will.”
Ashley’s trial was first scheduled for January 7, 2025. That did not happen. According to court records, her trial is now scheduled for August 4, 2025.
In relation to the death of her husband Tyrson, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said they’re aware of the claims, but can’t say whether or not law enforcement is investigating the incident.
SOURCE LIST
https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/docs-indiana-women-poisoned-mans-root-beer-float-to-kill-him/
https://www.buchananfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Harold-Peanut-Allen/#!/Obituary
https://www.buchananfuneralhome.net/m/obituaries/Marsha-Allen-3