Ashley Turton death

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and immediately passed out again and rolled forward. Very plausible and doesn't mean she was an alcoholic. Out partying to celebrate.

No one should EVER be behind the wheel of a car with a high blood alcohol content. You run a risk of killing others, or in this case, sadly, yourself. "Out partying to celebrate" is fine, a 37 year old mother should have better judgment about how much to drink and how to keep herself safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw a picture of the SUV at a weird angle and a gold sedan, Toyota maybe, parked in the driveway, wonder if she was trying to manuver around it.

That may have been a factor.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Lobbyist-Died-of-Burns-Inhalation-of-Combustible-Products-in-SUV-Fire-115968329.html

The sedan was parked very poorly and was really blocking the SUV in. Wonder if her husband was out the night before too. Even if she hadn't been so drunk that she crashed the car into the garage and was unable to get herself out of the burning car, clearly she was incapable of driving on the street as well.

I could be recalling this wrong, but sometimes can't your tolerance fail? I had an alcoholic relative who drank his "typical" amount and almost died one night when usually he was not all that visibly affected by the same number of drinks.

Did not know her personally but know people who move in those circles - people with those kind of careers tend to work hard and play very hard too and that often involves drinking. People who are also drinking heavily (possibly shots with that kind of BAC?) are not the best judges of how sober others are. Socializing overlaps with work contacts and can be a big part of the job. Parents like this are not typically up at the crack of dawn to pack lunches and rushing home to make dinner, their childcare arrangements often includes mornings, evenings and weekends. Families with careers like this often have daycare plus an au pair or nanny or multiple nannies. Hopefully the kids have a good support system and loving caregivers. Just incredibly stupid, unlucky and sad. Her parents lost one child and her brother will need care for the rest of his life. Amazing how much life can change in an instant. Will try to be motivated by this to really monitor my drink intake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw a picture of the SUV at a weird angle and a gold sedan, Toyota maybe, parked in the driveway, wonder if she was trying to manuver around it.

That may have been a factor.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Lobbyist-Died-of-Burns-Inhalation-of-Combustible-Products-in-SUV-Fire-115968329.html

The sedan was parked very poorly and was really blocking the SUV in. Wonder if her husband was out the night before too. Even if she hadn't been so drunk that she crashed the car into the garage and was unable to get herself out of the burning car, clearly she was incapable of driving on the street as well.

I could be recalling this wrong, but sometimes can't your tolerance fail? I had an alcoholic relative who drank his "typical" amount and almost died one night when usually he was not all that visibly affected by the same number of drinks.

Did not know her personally but know people who move in those circles - people with those kind of careers tend to work hard and play very hard too and that often involves drinking. People who are also drinking heavily (possibly shots with that kind of BAC?) are not the best judges of how sober others are. Socializing overlaps with work contacts and can be a big part of the job. Parents like this are not typically up at the crack of dawn to pack lunches and rushing home to make dinner, their childcare arrangements often includes mornings, evenings and weekends. Families with careers like this often have daycare plus an au pair or nanny or multiple nannies. Hopefully the kids have a good support system and loving caregivers. Just incredibly stupid, unlucky and sad. Her parents lost one child and her brother will need care for the rest of his life. Amazing how much life can change in an instant. Will try to be motivated by this to really monitor my drink intake.

This is a very sad topic but I would like to thank you for the laugh. "Parents like this...." is such a broad statement. I worked with Ashley on the Hill and lobby in the same sector she did. I am not sure where you get your information but there aren't a ton of women who fall into this category. We all tend to know each other or at least see each other at these "social events" ie fundraisers on a regular basis. I can tell you that as a whole we don't have multiple childcare providers, we tend to make lunches before sending our children off to public school and actually do rush home to make dinner. Ashely was just a regular mother like the rest of us. Her kids do have a good support system, you know her husband wasn't killed in the crash also! I never got the vibe from her that she was a functioning alcoholic but maybe I missed it. It is just incredibly sad and I don't think we will ever have answers.

[Anonymous]

I thought this seemed suspicious, but I didn't factor in the fact that she could have been a heavy social drinker (or alcoholic). I guess being a naive suburbanite, I just assumed that a mother with 3 very young children probably just wouldn't drink much at all, let alone enough to have alcohol poisoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were 2 reports - one that she was going in to the office early, one that she was headed to the airport.

Too bad it wasn't in a cab.

I would imagine that any reports of her drinking the night before would be supressed out of respect for the family and fear of liability.

Her brother was just in a tragic accident as well.

Do you have a link?

[Anonymous]

I think it was a motorcycle accident that requires him to have constant care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: "Parents like this...." is such a broad statement. I worked with Ashley on the Hill and lobby in the same sector she did. I am not sure where you get your information but there aren't a ton of women who fall into this category. We all tend to know each other or at least see each other at these "social events" ie fundraisers on a regular basis. I can tell you that as a whole we don't have multiple childcare providers, we tend to make lunches before sending our children off to public school and actually do rush home to make dinner. Ashely was just a regular mother like the rest of us. Her kids do have a good support system, you know her husband wasn't killed in the crash also! I never got the vibe from her that she was a functioning alcoholic but maybe I missed it. It is just incredibly sad and I don't think we will ever have answers.

Actually, I remember her advertising for a nanny for early mornings, evenings and weekend hours for 3 kids who were in full time daycare. Her husband works in the WH and probably works a similar, if not more demanding, schedule. I think that a lot of evenings out and social drinking were part of her job/lifestyle. With tragic consequences that night. Maybe it was a regular thing, maybe a celebration, maybe worry about her brother or a combo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it was a motorcycle accident that requires him to have constant care.

I believe that there was also an issue of his health insurance policy maxing out right before her death. Her poor parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this seemed suspicious, but I didn't factor in the fact that she could have been a heavy social drinker (or alcoholic). I guess being a naive suburbanite, I just assumed that a mother with 3 very young children probably just wouldn't drink much at all, let alone enough to have alcohol poisoning.

Oh, puleeazze! Are you saying you've never heard of suburban SAHMs with a drinking problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: "Parents like this...." is such a broad statement. I worked with Ashley on the Hill and lobby in the same sector she did. I am not sure where you get your information but there aren't a ton of women who fall into this category. We all tend to know each other or at least see each other at these "social events" ie fundraisers on a regular basis. I can tell you that as a whole we don't have multiple childcare providers, we tend to make lunches before sending our children off to public school and actually do rush home to make dinner. Ashely was just a regular mother like the rest of us. Her kids do have a good support system, you know her husband wasn't killed in the crash also! I never got the vibe from her that she was a functioning alcoholic but maybe I missed it. It is just incredibly sad and I don't think we will ever have answers.

Actually, I remember her advertising for a nanny for early mornings, evenings and weekend hours for 3 kids who were in full time daycare. Her husband works in the WH and probably works a similar, if not more demanding, schedule. I think that a lot of evenings out and social drinking were part of her job/lifestyle. With tragic consequences that night. Maybe it was a regular thing, maybe a celebration, maybe worry about her brother or a combo.

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this seemed suspicious, but I didn't factor in the fact that she could have been a heavy social drinker (or alcoholic). I guess being a naive suburbanite, I just assumed that a mother with 3 very young children probably just wouldn't drink much at all, let alone enough to have alcohol poisoning.

Yup, we super sophisticated city moms are rarely sober. It's a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought this seemed suspicious, but I didn't factor in the fact that she could have been a heavy social drinker (or alcoholic). I guess being a naive suburbanite, I just assumed that a mother with 3 very young children probably just wouldn't drink much at all, let alone enough to have alcohol poisoning.

Yup, we super sophisticated city moms are rarely sober. It's a fact.

Yes, roll your eyes and misinterpret me. Let me spell it out - I do not roll in these high profile, demanding job circles. My friends, most with kids, drink very minimally, and we do not celebrate things such as gigantic corporate mergers and whatnot. So naturally, I put that onto Mrs Turton, without realizing that there are moms out there who DO drink, who DO live the work hard/play hard scenario. Thus, I did at first find the whole 'no foul play' thing suspicious, and the alcohol poisoning even moreso, because what mom of little kids would do that? But clearly, plenty of folks here have no problems believing it, and have put up various plausible scenarios for why she couldn't get out of her car when it caught on fire. I feel very sad for her kids.

[Anonymous]

This whole discussion seems really ghoulish to me. I remember the original story and how bizarre it seemed, and I saw the followup yesterday that mentioned intoxication - which only made it seem more bizarre given that all the news reports indicated she was on her way to work in early am. But none of the PPs have actually indicated that they knew the woman in question, so how is it that everyone is so sure what transpired here, or what kind of parent she was, or how much hired help she had etc etc etc. And the random comments about another accident in her family are even more creepy. All we know is that a young woman who (according to the news reports) had a lot of friends and a successful career died tragically, and she left behind a family with young kids. I feel so badly for all involved, but speculating really doesn't serve any purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought this seemed suspicious, but I didn't factor in the fact that she could have been a heavy social drinker (or alcoholic). I guess being a naive suburbanite, I just assumed that a mother with 3 very young children probably just wouldn't drink much at all, let alone enough to have alcohol poisoning.

Yup, we super sophisticated city moms are rarely sober. It's a fact.

Yes, roll your eyes and misinterpret me. Let me spell it out - I do not roll in these high profile, demanding job circles. My friends, most with kids, drink very minimally, and we do not celebrate things such as gigantic corporate mergers and whatnot. So naturally, I put that onto Mrs Turton, without realizing that there are moms out there who DO drink, who DO live the work hard/play hard scenario. Thus, I did at first find the whole 'no foul play' thing suspicious, and the alcohol poisoning even moreso, because what mom of little kids would do that? But clearly, plenty of folks here have no problems believing it, and have put up various plausible scenarios for why she couldn't get out of her car when it caught on fire. I feel very sad for her kids.

Sadly, many times an extreme lifestyle is an indicator of too much or too little success in life. It's probably better to be momma bear rather than papa or baby bear. Life in balance.

[Anonymous]

I mentioned the brother's accident out of sympathy for her parents. To lose a child and to have a child who will need lifetime care suddenly, I can't imagine. Adding in the health insurance/financial stress, my prayers go out to them.

I'm an attorney and have a lot of colleagues (male and female) who go all day and drink at night to unwind and sleep when they get home at 9 or later. For political folks, going to evening fundraisers is part of the job. Three kids, 2 demanding jobs and her brother's accident, plus the financial stress of the accident, could all combine to make "normal" drinking slip a bit. Something was going on though. If she had not been extremely drunk (however that came to happen) she would be alive today. It was the likely cause of the crash and there was no other reason she didn't escape the car. I think the only good that can come is to check ourselves and friends a bit more.