John Ashburn is the husband of Allison Ashburn and the father of their children, except for her son Danny, who John would regularly force out of the house. Allison would give Danny money to subsist as a runaway, but his girlfriend Tina Keith being pregnant left John threatening Allison with divorce and taking their kids from her. Allison shot Danny with a revolver stolen from John's former place of employment.
John himself was arrested originally, as he hated Danny and had no hopes for him. Allison confessed and tried to argue a "choice of evils", that Danny being dead was worse than him being a sociopath roaming free because of his father, serial killer Walter Flint. When the true motive came out, Allison was found guilty of murder and imprisoned. (L&O: "Choice of Evils")