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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saturday would have been Ashlee Rucker’s 36th birthday.
Her ex-boyfriend, Chad Absher, was found guilty Thursday of shooting and killing her in 2017 in a double shooting that also seriously wounded her sister, Lisa.
Rucker’s family and loved ones joined together Saturday to visit her gravesite, which is how they’ve celebrated her birthday for the past five years.
This time, however, was somewhat different because the family said they have a bit of closure after the guilty verdict was handed down against Absher.
Rucker’s family remembers her as a daughter, mother, sister, aunt and friend. They said she was full of life and didn’t deserve what happened to her.
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The family sat in court this week, listening to testimonies and waiting anxiously to learn Absher’s fate.
They said it was hard to hear some of the things the defense said.
Vallerie Thompson, a close friend of Rucker’s, said it doesn’t feel like it’s been five years since she was murdered but also said they have to move on because it’s what Rucker would want.
