By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-05 23:21:47 | Updated at 2026-10-06 00:03:54
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The daughter of “American Idol” alum and ex-church pastor Caleb Flynn blasted her dad for sinning “big time” by having an affair with a “dirty girl” before killing her mother – as his other daughter vowed to never visit him in prison.
The 40-year-old father of two sobbed and sweat profusely as blistering statements from his daughters, Ava and Alyssa, were read in court before he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting his wife and their mother, Ashley.
“Mommy was the perfect person, the absolutely perfect person,” Ava, 10, said, according to a statement read in court by the girls’ uncle, Matthew Keyt. “What did she ever do to make you hate her so much? … She was my best friend and then you chose to kill the only mother I ever had.”
Ava also blasted her dad for having an affair with Aleigha Botner, an intern at the Ohio church where Flynn was a music pastor.
“How could you cheat on her and go to that awful girl Aleigha? I never liked her,” the daughter said.
“You and Aleigha sinned big time but you still have a chance to tell God that you are sorry,” Ava said.
Flynn’s other daughter laid into her dad, saying it was “sad that you can’t love anyone but yourself,” according to the statement read in court by her grandmother.
“You have already caused so much pain to your family and the world. The least you could do is tell everyone that you did it,” read Alyssa’s statement.
“By the way, I don’t plan on coming to see you,” the 12-year-old daughter said, apparently referring to his soon-to-be new permanent digs at a state prison.
The girls were 9 and 11 when Flynn killed Ashley at their Tipp City home on Feb. 16. He then staged the scene to make it appear as though an intruder carried out the murder, prosecutors claimed.
The girls are now being cared for by Ashley’s sister and brother-in-law, Kayla and Matthew Keyt.
The Keyts told the judge Monday about how the girls regularly cry as they struggle to come to terms with what happened to them.
Kalya said just the other day one of them “was laying beside me, sobbing into my shoulder as they both often do, because she missed her mommy and could not understand how her own father could have done this to all of us.”
“Then she looked at me and asked, ‘Why should I even believe in Jesus if he allowed this to happen to us,’” Kayla said.
Matthew painted an equally heartbreaking picture when he told the judge how the sisters go to their mom’s grave daily.
“Nearly every day we watch as Ashley’s daughters visit their mother’s gravesite,” Matthew said. “I watch them cry and talk to her. They often lie on the grass in front of her tombstone imagining that it will bring them a bit closer to their mom.”
Prosecutors claim that Flynn murdered Ashley, 37, because he wanted to start a life with Botner, now 24. The mistress testified against him at trial and was forced to admit she once texted with Flynn about wanting to kill Ashley, a sentiment Flynn agreed with in the messages.
Before Judge Jeannine Pratt threw the book at Flynn Monday, he sobbed as he read a lengthy statement lamenting not being able to raise the girls and apologizing for breaking his wedding vows.
Still, Flynn maintained he didn’t kill his wife.
