Sandra Rozzo Murder Case: Motive, Alibi, and Convictions

The Sandra Rozzo murder case ended in the July 5, 2003, killing of a 37-year-old Tampa Bay bartender in her own Pinellas Park garage, shot eight times by Ashley Humphrey, the 19-year-old wife of Rozzo’s ex-boyfriend Timothy “Tracey” Humphrey. Prosecutors proved that Timothy directed the killing to keep Rozzo from testifying against him at a felony battery trial scheduled for the next month. Ashley pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 25 years. Timothy was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole, plus 15 years for a later escape attempt.¹²

The Abuse Charge That Became a Motive

Rozzo dated Timothy Humphrey for a few months. Her sister, Tracy Havlicek, described a relationship that turned violent quickly: Humphrey bound Rozzo, straddled her, and punched her in the face. Rozzo told her friend Heather Ursini that he had hit her hard enough to leave black eyes and had tried to force himself on her.¹

Rozzo waited about a week before going to police. Because of the delay, investigators found no DNA or medical evidence to support the sexual battery allegations, and those charges were not pursued. Humphrey was charged with felony battery, which carried up to ten years in prison, and was set for trial on August 4, 2003. Rozzo had committed to testify.¹

How the Killing Was Planned

Timothy Humphrey, an ex-convict working as a personal trainer, had begun a relationship with Ashley Laney, then 19. Prosecutors argued he manipulated her into agreeing to kill Rozzo so he would not go to prison. Ashley later told investigators she went along because she was “in love” with Humphrey and feared losing him, and she described herself as “brainwashed.”¹

The first attempt came on May 31, 2003, outside the Green Iguana bar in the Rocky Point area of Tampa, where Rozzo worked.³ Ashley had been tracking Rozzo for weeks with computer software and had staked out the bar in disguise, darkening her skin and wearing baggy clothes. That night she fired a stolen Chinese SKS assault rifle at Rozzo in the parking lot, but the round hit her own car’s side mirror. She panicked, torched the car, and reported it stolen.¹

Timothy and Ashley married in a gym on July 4, 2003, the day before the murder. Prosecutors argued the timing was deliberate, so spousal privilege would keep Ashley from being compelled to testify against him.¹

On the evening of July 5, 2003, Ashley followed Rozzo roughly 25 miles from the Green Iguana to her home in Pinellas Park. As Rozzo pulled into her garage, Ashley approached and shot her eight times at close range with a Ruger .22 caliber handgun borrowed from her mother’s boyfriend. Timothy stayed on the phone with Ashley throughout, calling repeatedly for updates on her location and progress. Records later documented roughly two dozen calls between them during the course of the murder.¹

How Investigators Broke Timothy’s Alibi

Timothy Humphrey had a verified alibi for the time of the shooting: he had been home ordering pizza. What undid him was the phone data. Cell records placed Ashley in Pinellas Park at the time of the killing and captured the flurry of calls between the couple. Ballistics testing then matched shell casings from Rozzo’s garage to the Ruger Ashley had used.¹

Ashley was arrested on December 18, 2003, and confessed to the shooting after three weeks in custody. Timothy was indicted for first-degree murder in March 2004.³

The Jailhouse Escape

On April 16, 2004, while awaiting trial, Timothy Humphrey escaped from a jail transport van at the Pinellas County Jail. Deputies had failed to search him properly or shackle him adequately, leaving him cuffed in front of his body. With help from another inmate, Stephanie Rotruck, he loosened bolts on an interior cage door, reached through a meal-passing hatch to unlock the van’s side doors, and kicked his way out through an open port gate.⁴

Two nearby schools were locked down. Deputies caught him about three hours later, more than a mile away, hiding in underbrush.⁵ Three transportation deputies were suspended without pay. Humphrey later drew an additional 15-year sentence for the escape.²

Convictions and Sentences

Ashley Humphrey took a plea deal in February 2006, pleading guilty to second-degree murder. In exchange for her testimony against her husband, prosecutors dropped the death penalty and recommended 25 years. She was sentenced on March 10, 2006, and sent to Homestead Correctional Institution with a scheduled release date of December 11, 2028.²

Timothy Humphrey’s trial ran at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center, with Assistant State Attorney Fred Schaub prosecuting. Jurors heard the cell phone records showing the 22 calls between the couple on the night of the murder and undercover recordings of Timothy trying to persuade witnesses to lie for him. Ashley testified in detail about the stalking, the failed first shooting, and the killing itself.

On February 25, 2006, after about four hours of deliberation, the jury found Timothy Humphrey guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors had sought death; the jury recommended life without parole, and the judge imposed that sentence. He was sent to Everglades Correctional Institution, where the 15-year escape sentence was added to the life term. His appeal of the murder conviction was denied.²

1
CBS News. Dangerous Liaisons
2
Murderpedia. Ashley Humphrey
3
Tampa Bay Times. Husband Indicted in Bartender’s Slaying
4
Tampa Bay Times. Suspensions Follow Inmate’s Escape
5
Orlando Sentinel. Murder Suspect on the Lam for Three Hours