Detective describes trailing defendant in Hulen Mall

The day after a well-liked assistant manager at a Hulen Mall clothing store was found brutally killed, police trailed two suspects to the mall.

Police were already interested in former store employees Carter Carol Cervantez and Clarence David Mallory as suspects in the theft of nearly $18,000 taken from American Eagle Outfitters on Aug. 24, 2014, the final week of back-to-school sales.

Authorities say they believe the pair was just warming up. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was another big sales day for American Eagle. Former store manager Chris Cravey testified Thursday that the store might have more than $50,000 on the premises that night.

Cervantez is being tried this week on a capital murder charge in the slaying of Ashlea Ann Harris, 31, on Nov. 28, 2014 — Black Friday. Police have said they believe Cervantez, 27, and Mallory, 21, beat and bound Harris and then set her body on fire to steal her keys to the store, intending to steal again.

Prosecutors say Cervantez suffocated Harris and and hit her head with an object in the course of committing robbery and/or retaliation. Cervantez pleaded not guilty.

Mallory is also charged with capital murder. His trial is pending. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against either defendant.

Harris’ body was found Friday morning. Saturday, officers trailed the black G-35 Infinity that Cervantez normally drove to nearby Hulen Mall. There, they detained Mallory for driving without a Texas driver’s license, according to testimony from Fort Worth police Detective Jerry Cedillo.

Under the Infinity’s driver’s seat was a loaded 9mm Glock with a 15-round magazine, Cedillo said. One round was chambered, Cedillo said.

Mallory was wearing a rolled-up ski mask that looked like a regular cold-weather cap until you rolled it down, Cedillo testified.

Prosecutor Kevin Rousseau asked Cedillo what the recovered items suggested.

“It meant that a robbery at American Eagle was about to occur,” Cedillo testified.

Cedillo followed Cervantez inside the mall but lost track of her. Cedillo testified he discovered that Cervantez used an interior stairwell and hallway to elude him.

But the next day, police picked her up outside of her apartment. Cervantez had not returned to the mall parking lot to get her Infinity and she lied to a detective about her whereabouts, Cedillo said.

In a videotaped interview shown to jurors Thursday, Cervantez insisted she was inside her apartment that except when she went to the laundry to wash one pair of pantyhose.

Cedillo’s partner, Detective Ernie Pate, told her that Cedillo “was there. He watched you. He followed you. You continue to lie to us. We’ll be able to prove that you lied.”

After interviewing Cervantez for more than five hours, police got a warrant to obtain her DNA and released her, the video showed.

‘Everybody loved her’

Several store employees asked to go home early or be excused from work that Friday because of Harris’ murder, and those requests were granted, Cravey said. Employees from other stores, including a manager from the Dallas store, worked in their place, Cravey said.

Tuesday, Cravey described Harris as the mother of the store, who referred to the employees she supervised as her “kids.”

“Everybody loved her,” Cravey said. “She was invested in everybody.”

Several employees watched from the parking lot of Harris’ apartment complex as the investigation unfolded.

In her one-bedroom, second-floor apartment, investigators found three places where fire was set, testified Wallace Hood, a Fort Worth Fire Department investigator.

One fire was set in a closet, the bed was set on fire in several places and Harris’ body was set on fire, Hood said. The fire was deliberately set, meaning it was an arson, Hood said.

“It seemed to be a small fire,” Hood said. Firefighters “didn’t call me until they got inside.”

Testimony in 297th District Court is to continue Friday.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Detective describes trailing defendant in Hulen Mall."