The young daughters of American Idol alum Caleb Flynn and Ashley Flynn were devastated when they learned their father had been unfaithful, their aunt told the court.
“They were mostly brokenhearted for Mommy,” Ashley’s sister, Kayla Kyte, testified Sept. 22 during Caleb’s murder trial. “They were shocked and upset for their mommy because they said she loved Daddy more than anyone else in life. So why did Daddy not love her as much?”
Kyte said the girls, who are 10 and 12, knew the woman prosecutors identify as Caleb’s mistress. She was a worship leader at Ohio’s Christian Life Center, where she and Caleb performed together.
After the family told the children who the woman was, Kyte said the older girl responded, “I’m not surprised.”
Prosecutors allege that Caleb shot Ashley inside their Tipp City home on Feb. 16 before arranging the scene to resemble a home invasion. He faces one aggravated-murder charge, three murder counts, two counts of felonious assault and three counts of tampering with evidence.
Caleb has pleaded not guilty. Although he has acknowledged the affair, his defense attorneys argue that he intended to divorce Ashley—not kill her.
The prosecution, however, has presented more than 100,000 alleged text messages exchanged between Caleb and the other woman. In those messages, he reportedly expressed intense hatred toward Ashley and discussed wanting her dead.
“I was up until 4 a.m. last night crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail,” Caleb allegedly wrote. “If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That is how dark and how hateful I feel.”
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In another message allegedly sent just hours before Ashley died, Caleb wrote: “I choose you. I’m free. Actions will come tomorrow, February 16, a day I’ll never forget.”
Kyte also testified that she had previously heard rumors about Caleb’s alleged affair.
“I was so mad because it was tarnishing his reputation,” she recalled. “I just knew in my heart that he was completely innocent.”
Kyte said she was stunned when investigators informed her about the affair and initially accused authorities of arresting the wrong person.
“I had them repeat it to me probably two or three times,” she testified. “I could not even fathom the thought.”
The family has not directly told the girls that their father is accused of killing their mother.
“They always ask questions,” Kyte said. “We say, ‘That is what we are being told.’”
A spokesperson for Christian Life Center did not immediately respond to Oxygen’s request for comment.