The sister of murdered Ohio schoolteacher Ashley Flynn has told her killer “I do forgive you” during an emotional sentencing hearing, while making clear that forgiveness would not spare him punishment.
Kayla Keyt addressed Caleb Flynn, 40, after he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his wife at their home in Tipp City in February.
Flynn, a former American Idol singer and church music pastor, was convicted last week of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. He continued to deny killing Ashley, despite the verdict.
Keyt said the family had trusted Flynn completely before Ashley’s death. “When Ashley died and we learned that you were responsible, we were as shocked as anyone,” she told him. “We trusted you. We believed in you. We honestly would have laid down our lives for you.”
She described the effect of the killing on Ashley’s two daughters, Alyssa and Ava, who are now being raised by Keyt and her husband Matthew alongside their own two girls.
One of the children had recently been “sobbing into my shoulder” because she missed her mother and could not understand how her father could have done this to their family, Keyt said.
The girl then asked: “Why should I even believe in Jesus if he allowed this to happen to us?”
Keyt told the court that she had feared Ashley’s daughter was beginning to question the faith her mother had taught her. She said she tried to explain that faith did not mean terrible things would never happen, but could offer comfort during suffering.
She recalled encouraging the girl to look for small signs of goodness, such as warmth from the sun, colourful trees, food on the table and an embrace from someone who loved her.
“I told her to imagine every one of those little blessings as a tiny daisy,” Keyt said. “It’s very easy to miss them if you don’t watch out for them. But if we gather them one by one, eventually we look down and realize we’re holding an entire bouquet of blessings.”
Caleb Flynn sentencing hearing
Keyt said Flynn’s actions had also traumatised children across the wider church community, many of whom had seen him as a devout Christian.
“You shattered the innocence of so many children,” she told him, saying some youngsters were still running into their parents’ bedrooms in the morning to check that nobody had broken in and shot their mothers.
She accused Flynn of forcing Ashley’s family through a highly publicised trial rather than admitting what he had done.
“For months, our family prayed that you would confess and own up to all of your actions, but you didn’t,” she said. “Instead, you chose to drag us through a nationally televised trial.”
Keyt warned that the consequences would remain with Flynn’s daughters for years, saying they had lost their mother, father and almost everything they owned in a single night.
“We can shield Alyssa and Ava today, but we cannot erase the internet,” she said. “Someday your daughters may search their mother’s name or yours and discover details about the worst night of their lives that we have desperately tried to protect them from.”
Flynn broke down as statements from Ashley’s family and daughters were read in court. Ava described her mother as “the absolute perfect person” and asked: “What did she ever do to you to make you hate her so much?”
Alyssa, whose statement was delivered through her grandmother, told her father: “And by the way, I don’t plan on coming to see you.”
Flynn apologised for his words, his affair and the pain inflicted on his family, but maintained that he was not responsible for Ashley’s death.
“As I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge, I am not lying when I say I did not kill my wife,” he said.
Prosecutors said Flynn staged a home invasion after killing Ashley and claimed that an intruder had murdered her while he slept nearby.
Alleigha Botner, who was described as Flynn’s former mistress, testified that she met him as a 20-year-old church intern in 2022 and later began an affair with him. She told jurors that Flynn had said he hated his wife and had thoughts about killing her.
Keyt referred to Botner as well as Flynn when she delivered her declaration of forgiveness.
“I have forgiven both you and Alleigha,” she said. “Not because what happened should ever be excused or forgotten. And certainly not because there shouldn’t be severe consequences.”
She added: “I forgive you because I refuse to allow what you did to destroy another part of my life by filling my heart with hatred and bitterness.”
Turning back to Flynn, Keyt said: “You did not take Jesus from them. You did not take heaven from Ashley and you did not destroy our faith.”
She concluded: “I serve a God who’s both merciful and just. He tells us that vengeance belongs to him and I trust him with that. Justice is not mine to carry, but forgiveness is.”
