Woman charged in fatal shooting of Iowa real estate agent released on bond

The Iowa woman accused of gunning down a real estate agent during an open house 15 years ago was released on bond after dozens of people filed letters with the judge saying she isn’t a threat or a flight risk, court records show. Kristin Ramsey, 53, posted 10% of a $500,000 bond Thursday after a judge reduced it from $2 million in cash only, the records show. Ramsey was charged with first-degree murder last month in the fatal shooting of Ashley Okland, 27, at a model home in West Des Moines in 2011. She has pleaded not guilty and her lawyers have said that she “adamantly” maintains her innocence. Okland’s killing shook the real estate industry, prompting a series of measures aimed at making the day-to-day work of agents safer. Authorities have not identified a possible motive in the killing. At the time, Ramsey worked as a sales manager for the company that owned the development where Okland was hosting an open house. In his order reducing Ramsey’s bond, 5th Judicial District Judge Coleman McAllister cited 52 letters of support for Ramsey, several of which were excerpted in the document and describe her as a “devoted wife and mother” who “poses no risk to the community whatsoever” and has “deep and longstanding roots in Iowa.” Three witnesses, including her mother, also testified on her behalf during a bond hearing on April 10, the order said. The prosecutor presented no evidence during the hearing, McAllister noted, but opposed Ramsey’s effort to reduce her bond amount. McAllister concluded that Ramsey posed a “relatively moderate” risk of fleeing, he wrote, while the violent nature of Okland’s killing raised “reasonable concerns” about whether she’s a safety risk. “$2,000,000 is not the least restrictive condition of release supported by the evidence presented,” the judge wrote. In addition to a requirement of $50,000 cash, McAllister ruled that Ramsey will remain on house arrest and under GPS monitoring. He ordered all guns removed from her home. Okland was shot twice at close range on April 8, 2011. A witness saw Ramsey outside the model home where Okland was shot shortly after the person heard two apparent gunshots, authorities alleged in a filing earlier this month. The witness reported seeing Ramsey pacing by her car, then getting in the vehicle and driving away in what the filing described as an erratic manner. The witness found Ramsey unresponsive inside the home and called 911, according to the filing. The document says Ramsey was interviewed on multiple occasions about the shooting and provided conflicting versions of her whereabouts on April 8, 2011. Less than a month later, authorities executed a search warrant on her home. The judge’s bond order, citing that search warrant and the interviews, said it appears Ramsey was identified as a person of interest by law enforcement early on in the investigation. “It is noteworthy that even though she clearly remained a person of interest to law enforcement as the investigation proceeded, Defendant did not flee or leave the area,” McAllister wrote. Neither her lawyers nor the prosecutor responded to requests for comment Friday afternoon. Ramsey’s next court hearing is scheduled for June 19.