Jill Smith testified Tuesday in the Caleb Flynn trial in Ohio, telling jurors about the days after Ashley Flynn was shot. Smith said one of her granddaughters looked nervous after a walk with Caleb Flynn and was afraid to say what had happened.
Smith told the court, "I asked her why she was nervous," and later said, "I marched her down to her dad and said, ‘She, she’s afraid to tell the truth. Tell her to tell the truth.’" Smith said Flynn answered, "Of course, baby, you’re supposed to tell the truth."
Jill Smith and Flynn
The testimony came in the aggravated murder trial of the former American Idol contestant. Prosecutors say the 40-year-old Flynn fatally shot his wife in February and then staged the scene. Flynn has pleaded not guilty.
Smith said Flynn took his two daughters for a walk days after the shooting. She said the girls later appeared nervous, and one of them did not want to say what had happened. That account put the children at the center of the state's evidence, with jurors hearing a family witness describe the first signs of fear after the shooting.
February and Ashley Flynn
Prosecutors also allege Flynn had been having an affair and had sent messages about killing his wife. That allegation adds a separate line of evidence to the case, tying the shooting to what prosecutors describe as prior communications and conduct after the death. Flynn's defense declined to cross-examine Smith.
The state's case now turns on how jurors weigh Smith's account against Flynn's not-guilty plea. The testimony placed Ashley Flynn's children in the middle of the evidence and left prosecutors to connect the shooting, the alleged scene staging, and the messages in one sequence.
