Viswa Vanapalli
ABC News’ ‘20/20: A Killing on the Cape’ is a special episode that charts the work that went into solving the murder of Christa Worthington. She was a single mother living in Truro, Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, when she was killed in January 2002. The 46-year-old left behind a daughter, Ava Maria Worthington, who was only two and a half years old at the time of the incident.
Ava Worthington Was At Home When Her Mother Was Slain
Christa moved to Truro from New York in 1997, hoping to have a child. According to an ex-boyfriend, “She had this having a baby thing in mind, and I think she felt like this would be a good place to do that. The complication was that she was not married and didn’t have a boyfriend.” Soon after moving there, Christa met Tony Jackett, a local man who was married with six kids, and the two started an affair that went on for nearly two years.
Despite being told that she would have difficulty having a baby, Christa suddenly realized she was pregnant. The affair soon ended, with her resolving to keep the baby and not share that Tony was the father. Ava was born in May 1999, only for him to tell his wife Susan about the affair and the child about two years later. Christa eventually wanted Tony to pay child support, and the Jacketts soon came to an arrangement where Susan was okay with Tony having a relationship with Ava.
Shockingly, though, on January 6, 2002, Christa was found stabbed to death in her home. Ava was found by her side unharmed, and it appeared that the little girl had tried to clean her mother up apart from trying to feed her. The authorities believed Christa had been dead for as long as 36 hours, leaving her young daughter alone with the body. While the investigation into her murder continued, a battle for Ava’s custody began – a few months before her death, the mother had named her friends Cliff and Amyra Chase as her daughter’s guardians.
Ava Worthington Now Prefers to Lead a Quiet Life
In June 2002, the courts ruled that the Chases and Tony would share joint custody, with the former retaining primary custody of Ava. After all, Christa’s will had specified that if something were to happen to her, her high school best friend and her husband – loving parents of four children themselves – were to get her daughter. However, Tony was given the right to have a say regarding his daughter’s healthcare and education, among other things. After Christopher McCowen was found guilty of killing Christa, Amyra’s statement was read in court. It said, “Ava endured a day and a half that was so terrible that to say she was not brutally victimized would be an understatement.”
Amyra’s statement continued, “The first day of school, I stood there with such pride along with sadness that Christa wasn’t there. Christa was robbed of the privilege and delight of raising her daughter.” Eventually, Ava moved on to live with the Chases in Cohasset, Massachusetts. As per the last reports, the college graduate prefers to go by Ava Gloria these days and is likely based in Boulder, Colorado. Furthermore, the 25-year-old has maintained a good relationship with her father’s family. Apart from that, she has chosen to keep her life private, and little is known about her.
Read More: How Did Christa Worthington Die?
