A jury has convicted a Clairemont man of second-degree murder in the beating death of a Pacific Beach woman who died from multiple blunt force injury to her head.
David Charles Ashton, 63, was convicted of killing Regina Moore, 48, after he beat her with his fists on Jan. 23, 2016 in his home. He dropped her off at her boyfriend’s home in Pacific Beach where she sometimes stayed.
Ashton faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on April 7 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian. A jury deliberated a day before acquitting him of first-degree murder and then convicted him of second-degree murder.
Moore may have underestimated her injuries and did not seek medical attention after Ashton took her to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend called an ambulance at 3 a.m. and she died six hours later in a hospital.
She suffered from a subdural hematoma, which is bleeding in the area between her brain and skull. Her blood/alcohol level at the hospital was .23, which is almost four times the legal limit, according to court records.
Deputy District Attorney Nicole Rooney said the cause of death was multiple blunt force injury to her head and body. An autopsy showed she had seven injuries to her head, a broken rib, a broken arm, and bruising on her abdomen. “He (Ashton) had beaten her in the past,” said Rooney.
Ashton’s attorney, William Nimmo, had suggested to jurors that he could at most be convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Nimmo said Ashton had been diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder.
Ashton has also been accused of molesting a minor in 2004, and that case was filed after the murder case was brought against him. A status hearing on that case is also set for April 7. Ashton, an electronic technician, remains in the South Bay Detention Facility on $1 million bail.