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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane man convicted of murder in ex-girlfriend’s stabbing death

A Spokane man likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury convicted him of murder in the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, whose body was found buried in a makeshift grave in Elk last year.

Jason D. Flett, 28, was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday following a weeklong trial. Investigators implicated Flett in the death of Ramona Childress, a woman he had been dating, after a witness told police that he helped Flett bury a woman’s body near his property in September 2012.

Childress’ family reported her missing in October 2012 after she failed to pick up her two children, according to a missing person’s report.

The man who helped bury the 27-year-old Childress told police Flett admitted to fatally stabbing her to keep her from telling police about a string of burglaries he was involved in, according to court documents.

Flett served seven years in prison after pleading guilty to assault in the stabbing of a man at a home near NorthTown Mall in 2005.

Childress’ body was discovered on the Elk property last November after the witness told police about the burial. The witness described Flett as a family friend.

The jury also found Flett guilty of two deadly weapon enhancements, determining he was armed with a knife and a shovel at the time of the crimes. The witness told police that Flett struck Childress in the head twice with a shovel before the pair buried her remains, according to court documents.

A woman who was present at the burial and who has a child with Flett has not been charged in the homicide, according to court filings. Flett allegedly threatened the woman as well as the man who eventually told police about the crime that he would kill them if they spoke of the burial.

Flett is scheduled to stand trial again later this month, facing allegations he struck the mother of his child with a crowbar shortly before his arrest in November.

Flett is scheduled to be sentenced in September. The jury returned a special verdict indicating Flett’s crime was committed with “deliberate cruelty to the victim,” all but assuring a life sentence in the case.