Hours before Ashley Flynn was found fatally shot inside her Ohio home, her husband allegedly sent another woman a message that prosecutors now say carries disturbing significance.

“I choose you. I’m free.”

According to prosecutors, Caleb Flynn — a former American Idol contestant and church music pastor — sent the message to a woman with whom he had allegedly been having a long-term affair shortly before his 37-year-old wife was killed on February 16, 2026.

Another message allegedly promised that “actions will come tomorrow,” prosecutors told jurors as Flynn’s murder trial opened in Miami County, Ohio.

The communications are now at the center of a case in which the state alleges Flynn did far more than betray his wife. Prosecutors contend that he planned Ashley’s death, fatally shot her in their bedroom while their children were inside the home, and then attempted to make the killing appear to be the work of a burglar.

Flynn, 40, has pleaded not guilty.

His defense argues that investigators became fixated on him after discovering the affair and then interpreted the rest of the evidence through that assumption.

More Than 100,000 Messages Come Under Scrutiny

Prosecutors say investigators recovered an extraordinary volume of communication between Flynn and his alleged mistress — more than 100,000 messages exchanged during roughly the year before Ashley’s death.

Those conversations, the state argues, provide a window into Flynn’s deteriorating marriage and his desire to build a future with the other woman.

Some of the exchanges were considerably darker.

During opening statements, prosecutors described messages in which Flynn allegedly talked about wanting his wife gone and even considered ways in which she might die without him suffering legal or spiritual consequences.

In one message presented by prosecutors, Flynn allegedly said that if he could kill Ashley without going to hell, he would do so “in a heartbeat.”

At another point, according to the state, he wrote that he was trying to think of ways to kill her.

Prosecutors are asking jurors to consider those statements not as angry words written during a troubled marriage but as evidence of intent that became increasingly specific as February 16 approached.

Then came the message that has drawn particular attention.

“I choose you. I’m free,” Flynn allegedly wrote to the other woman shortly before Ashley’s death.

Prosecutors say he also indicated that actions would follow the next day — February 16 — describing it as a date he would never forget.

A 911 Call Reported an Intruder

In the early morning hours of February 16, Flynn called 911 from the family’s home in Tipp City.

His initial account presented a very different story.

Flynn told authorities there had been a burglary and that an intruder had shot his wife before fleeing.

Police arrived to find Ashley fatally wounded inside the residence.

The couple’s two daughters were also in the home.

But investigators soon began questioning the reported break-in.

Prosecutors told jurors that officers found no convincing evidence showing that an unknown intruder had approached the home, entered it and escaped as Flynn had described.

They also contend that aspects of the scene appeared inconsistent with a genuine burglary.

The state’s theory is that Flynn killed Ashley and then manipulated the scene in an attempt to direct investigators toward a nonexistent intruder.

He was arrested several days after her death.

Defense Says Affair Does Not Prove Murder

Flynn’s attorneys have urged jurors not to confuse infidelity with homicide.

The defense acknowledges evidence of an affair but says that being an unfaithful husband does not establish that Flynn murdered his wife.

His lawyer argued during opening statements that investigators effectively settled on Flynn as their suspect after discovering the relationship and then “worked backward” in building their case.

The defense also says prosecutors lack the kind of physical evidence that would definitively place Flynn behind the shooting.

According to Flynn’s attorneys, there is no direct forensic evidence conclusively proving he fired the fatal shot.

They have characterized the government’s case as one heavily dependent on interpretation — particularly the interpretation of messages written during a complicated and unhappy marriage.

“A man can fail as a husband without being a murderer,” Flynn’s attorney told the jury.

That distinction is expected to become one of the central battles of the trial.

Prosecutors must convince jurors that the messages demonstrate not simply hostility or fantasy, but actual planning that culminated in Ashley’s death.

A Public Image Far Different From the Allegations

The accusations have drawn additional attention because of Flynn’s background.

In 2013, he appeared on Season 12 of American Idol, where he described himself as a music pastor.

During that period, Flynn publicly credited Ashley with supporting his musical ambitions.

He did not advance beyond the early Hollywood portion of the competition, but his television appearance later became an unusual detail in a case now centered on accusations of murder, infidelity and deception.

Flynn continued working in church-related music roles in the years that followed.

That public identity is sharply at odds with the picture prosecutors are presenting to the jury.

They describe a husband who privately expressed resentment toward his wife while maintaining a lengthy secret relationship with another woman.

The alleged mistress has not been charged with a crime.

She is expected to be an important witness during the trial.

Ashley Flynn Remembered as a Mother, Teacher and Coach

Lost amid the sensational details surrounding the case is the woman at its center.

Ashley Flynn was 37 and the mother of two daughters.

She had worked with children and was known in her community through education, coaching and church-related activities.

Friends and relatives remembered her as compassionate, energetic and deeply committed to the young people around her.

Her death came only days before what would have been her 38th birthday.

The couple’s daughters, who were home when their mother was killed, are among the witnesses expected to appear during their father’s trial.

Because of their ages and the traumatic circumstances surrounding the case, special arrangements were approved for their testimony.

The children are now living with members of Ashley’s family.

Jurors Must Decide What the Messages Really Mean

Flynn faces multiple charges, including aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and intimidation of a witness, attorney or victim in a criminal case.

He has denied the allegations.

As testimony continues, jurors are expected to hear from investigators, forensic specialists, family members, Flynn’s alleged mistress and the couple’s daughters.

But the digital evidence may remain among the most closely examined parts of the case.

More than 100,000 messages provide prosecutors with an unusually detailed record of Flynn’s private communications during the months before his wife’s death.

The state says those exchanges show escalating resentment, repeated thoughts about Ashley’s death and an intention to begin a new life with another woman.

The defense says those same communications cannot substitute for proof of murder.

That leaves jurors with a difficult question.

When Flynn allegedly wrote, “I choose you. I’m free,” was it merely another dramatic message in a secret relationship?

Or, as prosecutors contend, was it written by a man who already knew what was about to happen inside his home only hours later?

The trial is continuing, and Flynn remains presumed innocent unless and until the jury finds him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.