Gov Denies Early Release For ‘Redmond 5’ Woman

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has denied a clemency request from Ashley Summers, one of the five teens convicted in the brutal 2001 murder of a Redmond woman.

Summers, now 24, is less than seven years into a 25-year prisonsentence.

She submitted her request in March -with several pages of references, letters of recommendations and certificates of merit during her timebehind bars.

The governor denied the request in a letter dated Monday.

“Under the circumstances, I have concluded that a commutation is not warranted,” Kulongoski wrote in the short letter.

Summers was one of five Redmond teens convicted of killing Barbara Thomas in March 2001.

Then 17-year-old Justin Link, 15-year-old Seth Koch and 18-year-old Adam Thomas – Barbara’s son – all received true life sentences for their roles in the shooting.

Then 16-year-old Lucretia Karle received 25 years, as did Summers.

Summer’s request came just a few months from her 25th birthday and the date she will be transferred from a youth correctional facility in Albany to the state prison at Coffee Creek.

Deschutes County District Attorney Mike Dugan said he was pleased with the ruling, adding that he provided a lot of information to the governor asking him todeny the request.