Danika Worthington and Anastasia Reynolds

The Arizona Republic

Teen girl told police the sex act with her boyfriend%2C 43%2C was consensual

She said the pair often engaged in acts involving strangulation and cutting before sex

Police charged Burlew with second-degree murder

GLENDALE, Ariz. — A 16-year-old girl arrested Saturday in connection with strangling her 43-year-old boyfriend during sexual activities will face trial as an adult after officials agreed to charge her with second-degree murder, according to court documents.

On Saturday night police were called to an apartment complex after they received a call from Tracey Woodside, Jessica Burlew's mother, stating that she believed her daughter's boyfriend, Jason Ash, was dead.

Glendale police say Burlew used an electrical wire to choke Jason Ash during what she claimed to be a consensual sex act. When Ash seemed to have passed out, Burlew told officers she cut him with a razor to get him to respond. She told officers that she continued to cut him to relieve her own stress, according to the documents.

Ash was declared dead at about 5:45 p.m., according to the documents.

Burlew told police she and Ash would often engage in these types of activities prior to sex, according to the documents.

Woodside said she had been home for a time before the death but had left to take out the trash when she received a call from Burlew who said that Ash, 43, was dead and it was "bad."

Burlew told Woodside that she and Ash were playing sex games and he was cut on the arms and strangled with an electrical cord. Burlew claims he did not say the "safety word."

Woodside returned to the apartment to find Ash lying on the bed with a cord around his neck and cuts all over his body. She left with Burlew to call 911 and, with help from dispatch, began to give chest compressions. Burlew fled the scene.

Burlew then returned to a neighboring apartment where she was identified by a resident and taken into custody by Glendale police.

Burlew was interviewed by police and admitted to causing the death of Ash by consensual strangulation. She claimed they engaged in acts like these often before sex.

Burlew also admitted to cutting Ash with a razor blade after she strangled him to try and get a response out of him after she thought he had passed out. She claims she did not get a response so she continued to cut him to "alleviate stress" from the situation.

Police searched the apartment that Ash was found in and discovered evidence of cutting and strangulation, which included an electrical cord around the neck of Ash, medical paperwork addressing self-mutilation involving Burlew, razor blades on the bed and a piece of paper with song lyrics referencing "Change or Die."

Another piece of paper that contained a reference to being a "human sculpture" was also found in the kitchen.

According to Woodside, Burlew spent a lot of time on the computer typing up lyrics. Woodside told police that Burlew has a history of self-harm by cutting.