Santa Monica : Ashford Gets 5 Years

Dora Ashford, a well-known community activist, has been sentenced to five years in prison for the 1986 shooting death of a former boyfriend.

Superior Court Judge James Albracht, saying Ashford suffered from physical and mental stress at the time of the killing, gave Ashford a minimum 3-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and another two years for using a gun. The sentence was handed down at a hearing Tuesday.

Ashford, 44, admitted shooting Jeffrey (Skip) Hintz to death in a restaurant parking lot on Dec. 4, 1986. Hintz, a Santa Monica architect, and Ashford had broken off their relationship a few months earlier.

With time already served and credit for good behavior, Ashford may be released within a year, said Audrey Winograde, one of Ashford’s defense attorneys.

Ashford will be transferred to state prison from the county’s Sybil Brand Institute for Women.

The case attracted about 100 letters of support for Ashford from Santa Monica officials and friends who spoke of her longstanding dedication to the community. She had been especially active in tenants rights, feminist causes and the preservation of the Ocean Park neighborhood.

Winograde said that Albracht, in making his ruling, took into consideration that Ashford suffered many problems, including a brain tumor and severe side effects from anti-depressant medication.

“It was a set of so many unusual circumstances that came together in this woman’s life that he (the judge) felt justice would be served by giving her the low term,” Winograde said.

Prosecutors, however, had asked for the maximum 13-year term.