Ashley Tropez, 'Beyond Scared Straight' Subject, Dead at 24

By Daniel S. Levine

Ashley Tropez, who was featured on an episode of A&E's Beyond Scared Straight, has died. She was 24. Tropez was found dead in an abandoned home on Friday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies and Victorville, California police responded to a call of a deceased person inside an abandoned house on Victor Street, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. Tropez was found inside, suffering from "traumatic" injuries. Sheriff's Specialized Investigations Division-Homicide Detail took over the investigation and learned that Tropez was "familiar" with Alexis Call. The two may have been squatting at the residence.

Call was identified as the suspect in Tropez's murder. She was booked at the High Desert Detention Center for PC 187(A)-Murder and was due in court on Tuesday, reports KTLA. Call was also scheduled to appear in court on Monday for an unrelated charge of possession of a stolen vehicle. Anyone with information is asked to call Deputy Vanayes Quezada, Specialized Investigations Division at (909) 890-4904 or anonymously at We-Top at 800-78CRIME and wetip.com.

Beyond Scared Straight aired on A&E for nine seasons from 2011 to 2015. Each episode of the series featured a troubled young person who is put through programs intended to dissuade them from a life of crime. Some of the episodes featured teens being put through a prison experience. Each episode ended with an interview of the subject a month afterward. The show was inspired by the 1978 documentary Scared Straight.

The series was controversial from the moment it aired, with many questioning the effectiveness of the programs. Back in 2011, two Department of Justice officials told the Baltimore Sun that a scared-straight program was "not only ineffective but is potentially harmful," notes the Daily Beast. The officials cited a 2002 Campbell Collaboration report on scared-straight programs, adding, "not only does it fail to deter crime but it actually leads to more offending behavior."

Tropez was 17 when she appeared on the show, reports The Sun. She claimed she constantly got into trouble for fighting and "selling weed." In one scene, a San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy threw a platter of food at her after she refused to eat. A year after she was on the show, she reportedly said her visit to jail did not change her life. "I'm still the same person," Tropez said. "I just be everywhere, from friends to family's houses. Just chilling." 

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