Pot smokers aren't violent. 'Everything was an adventure': Friends remember free spirited, devoted Boulder mother Ashley Mead

[Daily Liberal]

In her Facebook pictures, Ashley Mead usually had three things
on her: A gigantic smile, her unique fashion sense and her 1-
year-old daughter, Winter.

"She was just such an individual," said her friend, Morgan
Jeknavorian. "She always had just such an amazing smile. And
she'd wear crazy tie-dyed legging and shirts with sharks and
Godzilla and birds on them.

"And she was the best mother I've ever met. She's motivation for
how I want to be when I have a kid."

Friends and family are mourning the 25-year-old mother after
police revealed Friday that she was likely killed in Boulder
last weekend. Her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, Adam
Densmore, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Mead grew up in Warren, a city of about 10,000 in northwest
Pennsylvania.

"There's no words to describe what that girl had," said Amelia
Perry, who met Mead about 11 years ago in Pennsylvania. "That
girl lived more than anyone else I know."

"She was an old soul," Perry added. "Ashley could tell stories.
She was so full of life. Everything was an adventure."

The next adventure for Mead was school, and she moved to
Shreveport, La., to attend Centenary College of Louisiana before
transferring to LSU-Shreveport. Jeknavorian met her while the
two were working at the same restaurant, and lived together for
a time.

Mead would often walk into Jeknavorian's closet and find an
outfit Jeknavorian hadn't worn because it was too outlandish,
then add it to the eccentric wardrobe she paired with her
trademark "big silly glasses."

"She would show up in my dress and just be rocking it,"
Jeknavorian said. "She could never be caught wearing something
anybody else would wear."

Mead got into a bad car accident while studying, and the time
off from school and the mounting bills prevented Mead from
finishing her studies.

"She was so smart," Perry said. "But I think she kind of wanted
to do everything, and didn't know what she wanted to do at the
same time."

'I've never seen a better mom'

While studying in Louisiana, Mead met Densmore — a U.S. Army
veteran from Haughton, La. — and the two began what friends
described as a tumultuous and emotionally abusive relationship.

"I never cared for Adam, and I don't think any of her friends
did," Jeknavorian said.

She said she never witnessed or heard about any physical
violence, but said he was "manipulative," and that Mead was not
confident about herself around him.

"She was always miserable with Adam," Jeknavorian said. "He tore
her down mentally a lot."

The two broke up, and Densmore moved away to Colorado to go to
chef school, which is when Mead found out she was going to have
a baby girl.

"She was so scared when she was pregnant," Perry said. "She came
home and we talked about it, and she decided she was going to
move to Colorado. Even if she wasn't going to be with
(Densmore), she wanted to be there so her daughter could have a
father."

But even if Mead was scared about having a daughter, Jeknavorian
said that the birth of Winter Daisy Mead was one of the best
things to happen to her.

"She was just so proud of that baby," Jeknavorian said. "You
could see it in her eyes. It was just so amazing to see that
smile on her."

Jeknavorian said Mead's free spirit carried over to her child-
rearing philosophy.

"Winter would be sitting there in the dirt with a leaf in her
mouth, and (Mead) would just be giggling," Jeknavorian said.

But that didn't mean Mead was not a fiercely protective and
doting mother.

"I'd like to think I am a good mom, but I've never seen a better
mom than Ashley," Perry said. "She literally wore that baby."

And before you think that Perry misused the word 'literally,'
Jeknavorian said the same thing.

"She wore Winter," Jeknavorian said. "She had all these wraps
that she used. That baby was always attached to her boob."

So when news broke that the baby had been found with Densmore
but that Mead was not with her, Jeknavorian broke down and cried
in her car.

"I knew, I knew she was gone," Jeknavorian said. "She would
never let (Densmore) leave with that baby."

'She was the happiest'

Mead got a job as a preschool teacher's aide in Colorado after
moving to Boulder. Most recently, Mead had been an intern
teacher for the head start division of Boulder County Community
Services since October, the agency announced in a news release
on Friday evening.

"Her bubbly personality, her radiant love for her baby girl and
her zany clothing choices are a few of the hallmarks we will
miss. She was a dreamer and goal setter with lots of love for
all," said the release. "We are holding Ashley and her daughter,
Winter Daisy, and their entire family in our hearts."

Jeknavorian also said Mead had recently been seeing another man,
since she and Densmore were raising Winter but were not dating.

"She was really happy with him, and I think she was just getting
her confidence back," Jeknavorian said. "I'm really happy that
she met somebody who made her feel beautiful."

But Jeknavorian also wonders if seeing Mead with another man may
have made Densmore jealous.

"Maybe that is what made him snap," she said.

Perry never met Densmore personally, but said she also talked to
Mead about him.

"It was definitely strange," Perry said. "He seemed like a very
hard person for her to communicate with. They weren't good for
each other."

As for Winter, Perry said she has been talking with child
protective services and said the baby is with a temporary foster
family in Oklahoma.

"Winter is doing well," Perry said. "She's being taken care of."

In the meantime, Perry has set up a fund for Winter, who is
faced with growing up without a mother and possibly her father.
But Perry said she hopes baby Winter grows up with the kind of
love that Mead always showered her with, and it is why she is
choosing to remember Mead's life and not her death.

"She wanted every single moment of her child's life to be full
of love," Perry said. "Anytime someone got down, Ashley would
tell them to shut up and remember how much beautiful stuff there
is in the world. She was the happiest. Every time she walked
through the room, she would have a huge, beautiful smile that
would never quit."

John Bear contributed to this story.

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, bya...@dailycamera.com or
twitter.com/mitchellbyars

Colorado is a left wing pacifist state. They won't do anything
to this poor man.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_30803286/everything-
was-an-adventure-friends-remember-free-spirited

[Daily Liberal]