Ashley’s family willing to drop charges if proven that party drug came from her

CEBU CITY — The family of Ashley Abad is willing to withdraw the charges they filed against the teenage girl’s boyfriend if someone can prove that the party drug she took came from her.

Benny Abad, uncle of Ashley, called on people who have knowledge of the incident to surface and help ferret out the truth.

“Please help us. We are not asking someone to tell something that will be favorable to us. If it is against us, show evidence and we will move on, we will withdraw the case and forget all about it,” Abad said in an interview with a local radio station here.

“If someone can prove that Ashley was the one who bought and distributed the party drug, then we will stop this. We want the truth to come out, if the truth is against us, so be it,” he said.

A complaint for homicide has been filed against Ashley’s boyfriend Nel Spencer Tiu after the teenager died of ecstasy overdose.

Ashley was with Tiu and some friends when she collapsed in a concert last February 19 at the Cebu Business Park. She died in a hospital the following day.

President Duterte has revealed that upon forensic examinations on Ashley’s cell phone, the ecstasy that she took came from her.

The girl’s uncle however said the family firmly believes that the party drug didn’t come from Ashley.

Abad said their stand on the case may have been different if Tiu showed up right away.

“It would have been different if he told us what happened right away. But why did he not come out right away,” he said.

Abad said it pains the family that some people in social media are blaming Ashley for what happened.

“It pains us because my niece is already dead and she cannot defend herself anymore. We are fighting not just for justice but also for the family’s reputation because there are also stories accusing that our family is into illegal drugs that’s why we are moneyed. That’s not true, we are not rich,” said Abad.

He also shrugged off the pronouncement of Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas, that the case against Tiu is weak because what they have was just circumstantial evidence.

“If there’s no witness, of course you will rely on circumstantial evidence but it doesn’t mean that the case is weak. That’s his opinion but maybe he said that because the police wanted that reckless imprudence resulting in homicide should be filed but we insisted on homicide,” Benny said.