He wouldn’t marry her — so ex-girlfriend got coworker to bomb his truck, feds say
Update: Ashley Nicole Haydt was sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. The original story is below.
In October 2017, a pipe bomb exploded in the back of a man’s GMC pickup truck as he drove to work in southeast Alabama.
Bits of shrapnel flung into his side and hip — but he survived, prosecutors said.
Now the man’s ex-girlfriend faces a lengthy prison sentence on charges she plotted the attack with a coworker after her boyfriend dumped her and sought custody of their child.
A federal jury found Ashley Nicole Haydt, 36, of Taylor, Alabama, guilty on conspiracy and explosives charges after a four-day trial in the Middle District of Alabama, prosecutors said Friday in a news release. Haydt was reportedly “upset that her boyfriend would not agree to marry her.”
Her coworker, Sylvio Joseph King, pleaded guilty to his role in the bombing last year, court filings show. He also testified against Haydt at trial.
Prosecutors said the pair face between 7 and 40 years in prison.
Aimee C. Smith, an attorney representing Haydt, told McClatchy News in a statement Monday they are disappointed with the jury verdict and focused on preparing for sentencing.
Defense attorneys appointed to represent King were not immediately available for comment.
‘Boom’
Haydt met King in 2017 while they were working at Wiregrass Rehabilitation Center in Dothan, Alabama, prosecutors said. Dothan is tucked in the southeast corner of Alabama, about 15 miles north of the Florida Panhandle and roughly 17 miles west of the Georgia state line.
The two reportedly became friends while Haydt was pregnant. Haydt’s relationship with her longtime boyfriend was coming to an end, and prosecutors said she often shared her troubles with King.
According to the government, Haydt gave birth in June 2017 and her ex-boyfriend filed for custody shortly thereafter. In text conversations with King, she frequently “villainized” her ex and talked about her fear of losing custody, prosecutors said.
Haydt also talked about “how her life would be better if the ex-boyfriend were out of the picture,” the government said.
The conversations between Haydt and King eventually moved to Snapchat — an app where messages and pictures disappear soon after they’re sent. Citing Haydt’s “ongoing encouragement,” prosecutors said King started buying materials to build a pipe bomb.
According to the indictment, his shopping list included gunpowder, galvanized steel pipes, a battery and ignitors.
Early in the morning on Oct. 23, 2017, Haydt reportedly gave King her ex-boyfriend’s address. King subsequently planted the bomb in her ex’s work truck and remotely detonated it while her ex was driving to work, prosecutors said.
Her ex was blasted with the shrapnel in his back and hip area, according to the government, but was saved by passing drivers and first responders. In the immediate aftermath, King is accused of sending Haydt a text.
“Boom, I felt that from 120 feet away,” he reportedly said.
Conflicting statements
Haydt went to an attorney in Dothan shortly after the explosion to accuse King of the crime and deny any involvement, WTVY reported. But the deflection didn’t work.
Prosecutors said Haydt gave conflicting statements to investigators, who also found it suspicious that text messages with King on the day of the bombing had been deleted from her phone along with the Snapchat app. King still had evidence of their conversations on his phone.
Court filings show Haydt and King were charged by superseding indictment in early December 2019. Haydt was arrested nine days before Christmas.
King pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and malicious use of an explosive device in October 2020. Haydt was found guilty on charges of conspiracy, malicious use of an explosive and concealing the commission of a felony.
A sentencing date has not been set.
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 12:49 PM with the headline "He wouldn’t marry her — so ex-girlfriend got coworker to bomb his truck, feds say."
