Teen Lured to Fake Appointment, Murdered to Prevent Her Testimony in Court

A Virginia resident, Devin Albritton, 44, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, with 11 years suspended, for his involvement in the 2020 kidnapping and murder of a 17-year-old girl. The victim, Asia Cowell, was lured to a home under the pretense of providing hair styling services, only to be brutally murdered in a wooded area to prevent her from testifying against a man she accused of attempted rape.

Albritton was one of three defendants in the case and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. His wife, Crystal Ashley Rudy Albritton, 34, was also implicated in the crime and was sentenced to life imprisonment last month after pleading guilty to the same charge in March. The third defendant, Dazha Feaster, the sister of the man Cowell was set to testify against, is scheduled for a plea hearing in the murder case on October 30.

The presiding judge, Christopher Papile of the Newport News Circuit Court, expressed his disgust at the heinous nature of the crime. He described the murder as senseless, depraved, and grotesque, stating that Cowell was not just brutally murdered, but executed.

Cowell’s stepmother, Tuwanna Simmons, expressed her dissatisfaction with the sentence, stating that no amount of time served could bring Asia back. Albritton, on his part, expressed remorse during his sentencing, admitting that he could no longer uphold the lies surrounding the crime.

The tragic events unfolded on September 7, 2020, when Cowell was dropped off at a Norfolk apartment to provide hair styling services. Court documents reveal that she was subdued at the apartment, forced into a vehicle, and driven to a wooded area in Newport News. There, she was led into the woods where she was shot dead. Crystal Albritton was reported to have fired the fatal shot after the victim pleaded for her life and promised not to testify in the sexual assault trial.

Cowell’s body was discovered by Newport News police on September 23, 2020, in the woods behind commercial buildings. The three defendants were arrested in December of the same year. Devin Albritton was found to have disposed of Cowell’s cellphone and the murder weapon, and was reportedly preparing for a cookout a few hours after the murder.

Following Cowell’s death, the sexual assault case in which she was set to testify was dropped due to her inability to testify.