SHELBY COUNTY, Iowa (KTIV) - Winston Leal and Ashley McWilliams pleaded guilty to charges following their involvement in a murder in July 2025.

Court documents say on July 31, 2025, 33-year-old Winston Leal and 32-year-old Theresa Kenkel got into an argument in a bedroom at a residence in Earling, Iowa.

During the argument, court documents show Leal left the bedroom and went into the kitchen to retrieve a gun. Leal reportedly returned to the bedroom with the gun and shot and killed Theresa Kenkel.

After the shooting, authorities say Leal and his accomplice, 35-year-old Ashley McWilliams, drove to Council Bluffs, Iowa, without aiding Kenkel or contacting law enforcement about the shooting. Authorities say McWilliams was in the room where Kenkel was shot and drove Leal to Council Bluffs.

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