Dates set for Cook retrial

New dates for jury selection and a trial have been set for Ashley Cook, whose trial for the murder of Bill Ross ended in a mistrial last week.

Cook, 23, is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the Feb. 14, 2007, murder of Ross, a Shelbyville car salesman.

Judge Robert Crigler scheduled jury selection in the case to begin Thursday, Oct. 9, and set opening arguments for Monday, Oct. 13.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Randles told Crigler the prosecution's part of the trial should not last more than two days.

Bill Ross was shot three times while he slept in his bed at his Wartrace Pike home. His wife, 38-year-old Kimberly Ann Ross, was sentenced to life in prison last November after pleading guilty to first degree murder for her role in planning the slaying.

The prosecution claims Cook pulled the trigger while Justin Young, 20, allegedly loaded the gun and let Cook enter the home to shoot Ross in order to make the death look like part of a home invasion.

The date was set to coincide with the time frame in which Young will either make his plea in the case or be bound over for trial.

Cook appeared briefly in court Monday afternoon in shackles. Last week, the case ended in mistrial after the jury declared itself deadlocked after four days of deliberation.

District Attorney General Chuck Crawford said last weekend that his office's belief in Cook's guilt "remains unshaken."

Defense attorney Jack Dearing said last week that while Cook may be guilty of pulling the trigger, she should not be found guilty of conspiracy or premeditated murder.