DAVIE COUNTY, N.C. — A softball tournament Saturday worked to raise money for the family of Ashton Brown, a 26-year-old mother who was killed along with her two children in what deputies called a murder-suicide.
"From Ashton's mom's words: softball was her first love before her kids and I knew it was something to do in her memory that she would love," said Valerie Langley, the organizer of Saturday's event.
Langley played softball with Brown and said she was someone who had a great sense of humor and supported the team.
"Ashton was always somebody that would have me laughing," said Langley. "I found a picture of me and her at a ball tournament when we were younger and you can only see my face but I’m just in complete laughter while she saying something."
On April 20, the Davie County Sheriff's Office said 26-year-old Aschod Ewing-Meeks shot and killed Ashton Brown and their two children - Brixtyn and Bella - before lighting the family's home on fire and turning the gun on himself.
The sheriff's office released a recording from a non-emergency line call from Brown earlier on April 20. Thirty minutes before the call, surveillance video showed the family walking into the sheriff's office. They asked to speak with an officer but didn't say why.
Brown's family announced in May that they hired The Porter Firm to do its own independent investigation into what happened. They believe the Davie County Sheriff's Office should have intervened in the situation.
Saturday's tournament, which also featured vendors and a silent auction, was not focused on the tragedy, but rather on coming together as a community to help one another.
"Davie County is such a small community and they are all tightknit here," said Brian Turner, Brown's former softball coach. "I’m not originally from Davie County but when I moved here you start to know people they've just got each other’s back that’s just the way it is."
Turner said Brown was a player who "gave it her all."
"She just played it out on the line, she was aggressive, I mean she played really good ball," he said.
She wasn't just a good player, but also a good teammate according to Langley.
"She always kept the team upbeat but wasn’t afraid to say how you should’ve caught that or if we’re losing, she would (say) we’ve got to do better," Langley said. "She was always uplifting."
Langley said they hope to do the event annually and raise money for a scholarship fund for a high school athlete in Ashton, Bella, and Brixtyn's memory.