Ashley Toye was a seventeen year old living in Florida part of a group called the Cash Feenz which was a group of ten rappers that ended with the murders of Jeffrey and Alexis Sosa
According to court documents Ashely Toye and the Cash Feenz would force their way into a home in Cape Coral Florida where they would torture fourteen year old Jeffrey Sosa and eighteen year old Alexis Sosa. The pair would have bleach poured into open wounds, beaten and finally placed into the trunk of a vehicle which would be set on fire
Ashley Toye would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Years later her sentence would be reduced to thirty years
Ashely Toye Current Information
| DC Number: | Y33438 |
|---|---|
| Name: | TOYE, ASHLEY M |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | FEMALE |
| Birth Date: | 10/31/1988 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 04/12/2007 |
| Current Facility: | HOMESTEAD C.I. |
| Current Custody: | MINIMUM |
| Current Release Date: | 04/10/2032 |
Ashley Toye Case
A Cape Coral woman sentenced to life for a double homicide she committed as a minor will get a new chance after she challenged her sentence through a Supreme Court ruling.
Ashley Toye, now 34, will face resentencing Sept. 5 before Lee Circuit Judge Frank Porter, court records indicate.
Toye’s resentencing doesn’t mean she will be retried, only that a new sentence will be imposed.
Ashley Toye was convicted in the murders of 14-year-old Jeffrey Sosa, 14, and his 18-year-old uncle, Alexis Sosa that took place at a Cape Coral home in October 2006
According to police reports, the Cash Feenz, the name a group of teen rappers gave themselves, tortured the Sosas for hours on end by binding them, beating them, carving the initials of the rap group — “CF” — into their backs, pouring bleach into the fresh wounds, dragging them into the trunk of a car, where they were shot. The car was then set on fire.
Toye was sentenced to life in 2007 and also given two 25-year sentences for kidnapping that are not affected by the reversal.
But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2012 declared that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for defendants younger than 18. Ashley Toye was 17 at the time of the crimes.
Her appeal was denied and she was sentenced to life again in 2015.
The denial to her appeal was reversed in December 2019. The reversal was officially filed Jan. 23, 2020, and entitles her to a special hearing to determine the new length of her sentence.
In court documents on the reversal, the state’s recommendation was to give Toye something less than a life sentence.
Ashley Toye’s case advances to resentencing about three months after another then-minor, David Snipes, now 45, had his life sentence reaffirmed before Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle.
Snipes had been sentenced to life in prison for the 1995 murder of Marcus Mueller in Bonita Springs.
Cash Feenz murder resentencing set for Ashley Toye, then a minor
Ashley Toye News
Two co-defendants in the 2006 “Cash Feenz” murders have been resentenced to life in prison, with one small but significant revision – an opportunity for early release.
Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle ruled Monday that Roderick Antwon Washington, 25, and Ashley Toye, 26, would serve life sentences in connection to the murders of Alexis Sosa, 18, and his nephew, Jeffrey Sosa, 14. Both had sought new sentences following a recent Florida Supreme Court ruling.
Washington had originally been sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 30 years in prison, for two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Toye had been sentenced to life without parole for two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of tampering fabricating physical evidence.
“The judge left the sentence the same, except gave her hope that in the future she could petition the court for early release,” Attorney Stuart Pepper, who represented Ashley Toye, said on Tuesday.
After 25 years, both she and Washington can ask for early release.
“The minimum she could spend (incarcerated) is 25 years,” Pepper said.
To comply with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in March that juveniles cannot be sent to prison for life if they have not killed someone, according to the Associated Press. It also ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutional for juvenile murderers.
Washington was 16 and Toye was 17 at the time of the Sosa murders.
Those who received life sentences as juveniles have two years to seek new sentences.
The AP reported that the Florida ruling could affect about 200 people.
Pepper noted that he and Toye had hoped for a lighter sentence on Monday, like 30 or 25 years.
“She’s very disappointed, but at least she has a hope of being released,” he said.
Assistant State Attorney Cynthia Ross handled the re-sentencing hearings.
“I think the State Attorney’s Office looks at the crime that was committed with the two victims,” she said. “During both hearings, I articulated the state’s concerns and thoughts on these cases.”
Alexis and Jeffrey Sosa were hog-tied, beaten and tortured at a Cape Coral duplex during a birthday party in October 2006. Driven to an industrial park, they were fatally shot and Alexis’ body was put in the trunk of a vehicle and set on fire. Authorities found Jeffrey’s body lying near the burned vehicle.
Calling them “horrific” murders, Ross noted that the victims were terrorized and tortured over an extended period of time. Court transcripts showed they screamed and begged for mercy, to no avail.
“The court, in finding a life sentence, had ample grounds to make that decision,” she said.
“We certainly support the court’s decision,” Ross said.
Pepper noted that Kyle was not the original judge in Toye’s case.
“I disagree with his conclusions about her role in what occurred that evening,” he said. “He grouped Ashley in with the more vicious members who committed the crimes – she did one thing.”
Pepper acknowledged that Ashley Toye and others carved initials in the victims’ backs, which she was sentenced to 15 years for. After that act, his client did nothing else to the victims.
“She was simply there,” he said. “Just by being there, she’s being collectively punished.”
Pepper said Toye is not a killer.
“She is not this malicious evil monster,” he said. “She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t run away and call the police – she was a girl who was caught up in a nightmare that she couldn’t get out of.”
Ten people, ages 16 to 20, were charged in connection to the murders.
The co-defendants all had ties to a local rap group and called themselves the Cash Feenz.
Kemar Manley Johnston was convicted and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 30 years in prison. He was 20 at the time of the murder, so he is not eligible for a re-sentencing hearing.
Kenneth Junior Lopez was sentenced to 50 years in prison in a plea deal with the state.
Melissa Rivera, Iriana Santos, Alexis Fernandez, Cody Roux and Michael Balint pleaded guilty to lesser crimes and received prison sentences that varied between 14 years and 26 years in exchange for their testimony. Paul Nunes pleaded guilty in a deal with the state to a reduced sentence of 40 years.
Toye and Washington have 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision from Monday.
“She most likely will appeal because this is a new area of the law,” Pepper said. “The appeals courts have not even ruled on these types of hearings.”
According to the Equal Justice Initiative, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children 17 or younger convicted of homicide are unconstitutional.
It struck down statutes in 29 states that provide for mandatory life-without-parole sentences.
Attorney Pauline Franklin represented Washington in his re-sentencing hearing.
She did not return messages on Tuesday seeking comment on the outcome.
