Ashley Norris (Is There a Killer in My Family?)

**Ashley Norris**, aka **Lauren** (Alex Paxton-Beesley), was the main villainess from the 2020 Lifetime film, *Is There a Killer in My Family?* (alternately titled, *Island of Shadows*; airdate February 14, 2020).

## Backstory

Ashley Norris' backstory revealed that she is the daughter of Peggy Norris, who killed her husband (Ashley's father) prior to the events of the film. It was indicated that Ashley's father was abusive, though the trials of the Norris family were the subject of one of the true-crime books written by the main protagonist Carly Travers. Peggy ended up arrested and convicted as a result, leaving Ashley angry and vengeful, as she blamed Carly for taking everything from her. Months before the events, Ashley had an affair with Carly's husband, Kevin, with the affair being used as part of her vengeful plot against Carly.

## Events

    The couple was on vacation, with Ashley swimming from one side of the island to the other and later meeting Carly while introducing herself as Lauren. She portrayed herself as being a fan of Carly's work, though in actuality, Lauren was planning on destroying Carly's sanity to the point where she questions her judgment. Her scheme involved dressing as a mysterious woman in white and appearing to Carly during her and Kevin's time in the old Crawford house. Carly was led to believe that this was connected to the decades-old murder of Diana Crawford, her distant relative.

The result of Lauren's plan was to have her mother possibly released due to Carly's sanity being in question, and it was later in the film that she appeared to Carly in her home, with Carly mentioning the woman in white to Lauren. Lauren claimed to have seen the woman and was going to show her where she last saw her, but when Carly attempted to show Kevin, Lauren was nowhere to be found.

## Reveal & Death

    The film's climax saw Carly head to Lauren's home, where she found copies of one of her books before being encountered by Lauren, who asked Carly if she remembered her. It was at that moment that Lauren revealed her true identity as Ashley Norris and that she blamed Carly for getting her mother incarcerated. Carly stated that Peggy killed her husband, only for Ashley to refer to her father as a monster and that Carly didn't know the whole story. The vengeful villainess was originally armed with a knife, but after Carly ran off, Ashley took out a gun and pursued her.

Carly informed Kevin about Ashley, who entered their home and revealed that she had an affair with Kevin several months prior. The villainess was later approached by Kevin, who was held at gunpoint by Ashley and was forced by Ashley to choose which side he was on. Kevin's attempt to take the gun from Ashley resulted in him getting shot in his left thigh, though Carly struck Ashley with a fireplace poker and subdued her long enough for both of them to escape. The evil Ashley caught up to the duo and a final struggle ensued, during which Carly tried to beg Ashley that she doesn't need to do this, only for Ashley to voice her pleasure in killing Carly and reveal that being a sadistic killer is what she truly enjoys. Quickly knowing that Ashley is a monster that can never be redeemed, Carly picked up a large sign and gave Ashley a fitting comeuppance for a sadistic monster by striking Ashley in the head, causing the deranged villainess to strike her head on a rock, killing her instantly.

## Trivia

* Alex Paxton-Beesley also played villainess Theresa Harris on the *Republic of Doyle*, and appeared as the evil Liz Rutledge on *Minority Report*.

## Gallery

Ashley wielding her pistolAshley after being killed by Carly