Man pleads guilty in mother's 'walking nightmare'

Dec. 14—CATLETTSBURG — An Ashland man officially admitted this week to killing a young mother, but the girl's mother says his admission doesn't dull the ache of losing a child.

"It's a nightmare you never wake up from. It's a walking nightmare," Michelle Miller said of Ericka Spradlin's untimely death.

Nearly five years ago, the 29-year-old was found on a residential lawn off Marcia Street in Ashland, having succumbed to multiple stab wounds sometime during the night hours of Jan. 19, 2019.

Four days after Spradlin was discovered, Ashland Police arrested and charged Jason D. Blevins, now 41, with homicide.

Blevins was believed to be a romantic partner of Spradlin and the two shared a residence in the 400 block of Marcia Street, a couple yards from where she was ultimately found.

While Blevins initially entered a not-guilty plea and remained incarcerated since 2019, Blevins appeared in Boyd County Circuit Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to murdering Spradlin.

Blevins was scheduled to stand trial early next year, but after a mediation between attorneys, Blevins agreed to plead guilty to his original charge — a sole count of domestic violence murder — in exchange for a 28-year active sentence recommendation from prosecutors.

Wednesday's entry of a plea should serve as a figurative period on the end of a sentence, but Spradlin's mother, Michelle Miller, said the end of courtroom procedures doesn't start a new chapter for her or her family.

"It doesn't make me feel better," Miller said of Blevins's admission. "It still doesn't bring her back. Nothing will bring her back."

Like most victims of violent murder, Spradlin's identity was slowly eroded by smalltown gossip, gory details and news stories highlighting Blevins's conduct and criminal charges.

"When it first happened, nobody wanted to know anything about her," Miller said, adding some would come out of the woodwork to announce, "Hey, I dated her," or "I know this and that."

"It was all about everybody else and what they did with her. That's not who she was," Miller said.

Spradlin was more than a victim of domestic violence, more than a murder victim, more than a news headline and more than a person suffering from addiction, Miller said, believing Spradlin's addiction was the reason she was involved with Blevins to begin with.

"She was a wonderful friend. A great daughter and the mother to two wonderful children she loved very much," Miller said of her daughter.

"She loved to make people laugh. She was a comedian. ... Even as a small child, she loved to make people laugh," Miller reminisced, adding Spradlin loved to sing and had a "beautiful voice."

Spradlin's children, now 17 and 13 years old, had previously been prevented from attending any court proceedings until this week.

"(They) wanted to hear him say he was guilty," Miller said of her grandchildren, who were 12 and 8 at the time of Spradlin's death.

"It's the one time I would let them go," Miller said, permitting her grandchildren's request to attend one of the final proceedings, hoping to provide them closure.

"It don't really feel right to me. Yesterday (Wednesday), it didn't bother me. But today don't feel right to me," Miller added. "It's been a really bad day for me. I hope her kids don't feel the same way. I hope they're not at school feeling the same way."

Miller spoke highly of her grandchildren, telling The Daily Independent despite their tragic loss, they're excelling.

Miller said Spradlin's oldest son plays high school football and her daughter, who "looks just like her," is a cheerleader.

Both are high-achieving students, earning straight A's, according to Miller.

Since Blevins admitted to snuffing out the life of Spradlin, all that she was and all that she would see, including her children's successes, Miller said she holds no space for forgiveness.

"She'd give her shirt off her back for anybody. She was an amazing person," Miller said. "She was just beautiful inside and out."

"Will I ever forgive him? No," Miller said.

Blevins is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 15.

Miller said she and both her grandchildren plan to give victim impact statements at Blevins's final sentencing.

(606) 326-2652 — mjepling@dailyindependent.com