An Arkansas man has been sentenced to life imprisonment, plus additional time, for the fatal ambush of his former girlfriend, following a series of threatening text messages. The attack involved a barrage of bullets.

On Thursday, a jury in Crittenden County found 27-year-old Ashton Wardlow guilty of first-degree murder and 17 counts of committing terroristic acts. Each charge included a firearm enhancement, as reported by the local prosecutor’s office.

Following the jury’s advice, 2nd Judicial Division Circuit Judge Dan Ritchey handed Wardlow four consecutive life sentences. In addition, he was sentenced to a theoretical 830 years in state prison.

These sentences were imposed for the murder of 23-year-old Ivori Harris, who was shot and killed.

Harris was discovered on June 29, 2024, in her vehicle on Wilson Road in West Memphis. West Memphis is a city on the Arkansas-Tennessee border, directly west of the larger Tennessee city from which it takes its name.

Wardlow fired 117 shots into Harris’ vehicle, causing the victim to crash into a home – and nearly killing the man who lived inside, according to the West Memphis Police Department.

Authorities would soon learn that Wardlow and Harris had been in a tumultuous six-year relationship that was characterized by “domestic violence, stalking, and threats of harm,” according to a police report obtained by Memphis-based ABC affiliate WATN.

Investigators used text messages between the defendant and the slain woman, as well as witness accounts of their often-strained relationship from Harris’ best friend, to make their case.

Bolstering the state’s case was surveillance footage showing Wardlow’s car circling around the neighborhood where Harris was to be killed on the day in question – before eventually stopping right next to the victim’s own vehicle – when Harris was sitting inside. Then, Wardlow himself is seen leaving his car and walking toward Harris.

And then a flurry of text messages from man to woman: “I know you’re not home,” “Goodbye,” and “I’m officially done with you.”

And then a flurry of bullets.

After the murder, Wardlow fled to Carbondale, Kansas.

He was eventually arrested by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office deputies and extradited back to Arkansas.

Prosecutors praised the outcome.

“I want to thank Sgt. Chad Davis and the West Memphis Police Department for their tireless work and dedication to this case,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Coe said in a statement. “Their commitment and professionalism were instrumental in securing this verdict. I also want to thank the family of Ivori Harris for their strength and courage throughout this process. This verdict ensures that Ashton Wardlow will never see the outside of a prison again, and I hope it brings some measure of peace to those who loved Ivori.”