Ashlee Williams
Weekend Evening Anchor / Weekday Reporter
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Ashlee joined WTVM News Leader 9 in October 2021.
Originally from Columbus, Ashlee started her news career in Augusta, Georgia as a reporter, then moved on to Montgomery, Alabama where she was an evening news anchor.
Ashlee decided to move back home close to her family during COVID to pour back into the community that shaped her. Her passion is telling meaningful stories that serve purposes, specifically stories that highlight people’s efforts in growing the community and remembering loved ones who have passed away.
Ashlee’s favorite aspect about working in news is meeting people, developing lasting relationships and uncovering injustices.
When she is off work, Ashlee enjoys taking day trips with friends, walking on the Chattahoochee Riverwalk and spending time with her rescue dog, Lulie!
If you have any story ideas, don’t hesitate to send them her way: ashlee.williams@gray.tv.
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A busy weekend for law enforcement officers in our area with police responding to a number of shootings.
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New life was brought back to Columbus’s Historic Ralston Towers with the grand unveiling on Aug. 31.
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More than 100 Spencer High School students gathered at AJ McClung Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30 to set an example following the incident at the 61st annual Heritage Bowl Aug. 25.
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Some education leaders in East Alabama are making changes to their desegregation order that’s been around more than 50 years, and some faculty and staff in Chambers County came together to protest on Aug. 23 for some answers about the progress.
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Two fire and Emergency Medical Service departments in Columbus and West Point are receiving funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighter Grants Program to upgrade their departments.
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The roundabout on St. Mary’s Road has been in operation for quite some time, but with the news of three more coming to Steam Mill Road in District 4, leaders are urging drivers to know the rules of the road ahead of the project completion.
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A big development is in the works in Buena Vista: a multi-million dollar project to improve the city’s wastewater plant.
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The remains were transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences and were identified as 28-year-old Myshonique Shontrell Maddox, of Columbus.
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There’s been an uptick in animals being euthanized at the Columbus Animal Care and Control Center in 2023.
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It’s sat vacant for more than a decade, and now one woman is bringing new life into a Columbus staple: The Goetchius House.
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In Muscogee County, after months of having to transport bodies in U-Haul vans to Atlanta for autopsies, Coroner Buddy Bryan has received his new state of the art vehicle, which will serve your tax dollars more efficiently and give closure to grieving families faster.
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Something that’s been talked about for years is starting to come to life in Uptown Columbus.
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Two Columbus natives say they are lucky to be alive, as they were slated to take that trip to the wrecked Titanic where five crew members are currently missing at sea.
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Reaction continues after former president Donald Trump visited the Fountain City over the weekend for the Georgia State Republican convention.
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President Trump was the featured speaker for the GOP convention that was hosted in Columbus.
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Happening across the country, local sports teams are experiencing a shortage of referees. Here at home, both Alabama and Georgia are feeling the effects.
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Coming up this Friday, Georgia’s Republican party is kicking off, making its way to the Fountain City for the annual GOP convention. Thousands of Peach State delegates and alternates will be in Columbus... plus a handful of high profile politicians, including former president/ 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump.
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A busy three days for Columbus Police officers: From May 6th through the 8th, officers responded to eight different shootings in the Fountain City, leaving 10 people with injuries. This all happened as the department’s interim police chief started his work Monday.
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This is an update to a double murder that happened on Clay Street in Columbus this past March.
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We are learning new details about how the Muscogee County jail is operating plus plans in the works for a new jail and sheriff’s office.
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Some exciting news: It’s Columbus native and former blues singer Ma Rainey’s Birthday! Known as the “Mother of the Blues,” Rainey lived an eccentric life in the late 1800′s and 1900′s... and it all started right here in Columbus.
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Columbus City Councilor John House is stepping down from the district 10 at - large position during Tuesday night’s city council meeting...
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Summer is right around the corner... and that means pool time!
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It’s been exactly two weeks since Columbus Police Department’s Chief, Freddie Blackmon, accepted a severance package from the city to retire.
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Several Peach State leaders made their way to Muscogee County Monday to address gang violence in the Fountain City. The group discussed new and ongoing efforts to protect and prevent children from being recruited into gangs.
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One Columbus woman is bringing her once crime-ridden neighborhood together and working to instill purpose and life in its youth.
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As prices of food and necessities continue to rise, local animal shelters are feeling the pain in their wallets.
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A heated city council meeting Tuesday night in the Fountain City.
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Another high-energy and emotion-filled evening in Columbus council chambers Tuesday night.
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Following Sunday’s tornado ripping through Troup County, dozens of families in West Point are left without homes.
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She tells News Leader 9 that her daughter was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time - at a convenience store when a young male was attempting to steal from the store, then shot her - ultimately taking the mother of five’s life.
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Bluebelle Local Mercantile hosted a spring kick-off event Saturday afternoon.
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Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon presented his strategic plan for the department. Blackmon had 30 days to develop, and present a plan to the council.
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Hundreds of families in the Chattahoochee Valley have lost loved ones due to gun violence.
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Following an uptick in shootings and gun-related deaths and injuries in Columbus in recent years, one group of men and women joined forces Tuesday to put boots on the ground to help combat crime.
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In the wake of the uptick in violent crimes across the Chattahoochee Valley, a group of men will unite to stand against gun violence.
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Another violent weekend across the Fountain City with five people shot in less than 48 hours. One person is still in critical condition this evening.
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A nonprofit, Take the City, brought different churches together to bring light and resources to five different communities this past weekend.
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A group of people from Fountain City Church in Columbus are embarking overseas in a few months for a missions trip - and one couple is hosting a consignment prom dress sale to help raise money!
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The Muscogee County Republican Party elected its first female chairman Saturday - making history in the county.
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No suspect has been named in the days following the fatal shooting of two women outside a home in Columbus.
In Columbus, just yesterday, two women were found shot to death in the front yard of a home on Clay Drive in South Columbus. It happened in broad daylight.
Two bodies have been found on Clay Street in Columbus.
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After nearly a decade, Kadie the Cow’s calf, BeBe has been located!
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In Columbus, a family is grieving the loss of three of their own due to gun violence.
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It was a heated city council meeting Tuesday night when more than a dozen community members came before Columbus’s top leaders to express their concerns regarding Police Chief Freddie Blackmon and crime.
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Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon and his department have undergone two separate assessments in the past year alone: one funded by the public and the most recent one funded privately by Columbus business owners.
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As Former President Jimmy Carter of Plains, Georgia remains in hospice care, we’re learning more about his hometown church’s history, and how Carter’s fight for integration in the 1970′s is making an impact on today’s congregation.
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Following the gun violence-ridden, deadly weekend we witnessed across Columbus, we’re digging deeper to try and find some solutions to the state of the Fountain City, especially when it comes to our younger generation.
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The City of Columbus is reeling from a weekend filled with gun violence.
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