Ashanti has spent years in the spotlight, but she managed to keep a dark part of her life completely hidden. Many people don’t know that she had a longtime stalker whom she struggled for years just to stay safe from.
But what exactly happened between Ashanti and her stalker? The truth about his identity and the terrifying situation she went through because of him is honestly shocking, so let’s get into it.
In 2009, Ashanti and her family had no idea that their lives were about to change forever. According to The New York Post, that May, a man named Devar Hurd began sending extremely inappropriate texts to Ashanti’s mom and manager, Tina Douglas. Devar reportedly sent one message to Ashanti’s father, but all of the other disturbing texts were sent to Tina.
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In the first message, he flirtatiously told her to let Ashanti know that he was on his way home from work. But even though he acted like he was a family friend, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Devar was a total stranger, which made his second message even creepier.
The following day, he texted a photo of his private parts to Tina and wrote that the picture was “for the ladies.” At the time, she didn’t realize that he had a delusional obsession with her, Ashanti, and Ashanti’s sister, Kenashia. But what happened next was seriously alarming.
Tina told Devar to stop texting her, but he continued sending increasingly concerning messages anyway. After he explained how attracted he was to Ashanti in very explicit details, he sent another text that revealed just how scary the situation actually was. The next messages Tina received from Devar were pictures of Ashanti’s car and the family’s house.
Ashanti Had to Face Her Stalker in Court
After the police were contacted, they were able to find him before things escalated even more. Devar was arrested in July 2009 and charged with stalking and harassment. But unfortunately, the real-life nightmare he’d put Ashanti and her family through still wasn’t over.
According to CBS News, Tina found herself face-to-face with Devar that December, when she testified at his trial. He truly didn’t believe that anything he had done was wrong or had crossed a line at all. During Devar’s testimony, he argued that all of the texts he had sent, including the inappropriate photos, had been welcomed.
Thankfully, the jury found him guilty, and he was convicted of both criminal charges. But what happened at his sentencing hearing was absolutely bizarre.
In February 2010, the New York Daily News reported that Devar had been sentenced to two years in jail. But apparently, the judge hadn’t planned on putting him behind bars at all, and the reason why was honestly unbelievable.
Judge Thomas Farber claimed that he wanted Devar to attend a program to address his alleged mental illnesses. He was initially only going to put him on probation. But because his family had relocated to another state, Judge Farber had no choice but to give him jail time.
Ultimately, the judge also decided to revoke Devar’s license to carry firearms at his sentencing hearing. But because Devar had technically been serving time for several months, he ended up being released in 2011. What happened next was seriously nerve-racking.
Davar Began Sending Disturbing Tweets
According to The New York Post, Devar was arrested again in July 2013. Even though the court had granted Ashanti and her family orders of protection that stated he wasn’t allowed to contact them, that wasn’t enough to stop him.
It turns out that Devar had been sending Ashanti and her family super disturbing tweets for months. He reportedly used at least two different accounts on Twitter to send them over a hundred explicit messages. But that wasn’t the only way he had violated the protection orders.
After Devar was arrested, he confessed to police that he had also gone to a party that he knew Ashanti’s sister would be attending. He revealed that once he saw Kenashia there, he walked right up to her and took a photo with her.
Clearly, he hadn’t learned anything from the two years he’d spent behind bars for stalking the family the first time. On top of dealing with another round of Devar’s stalking, Ashanti and her family were once again called to testify against him in court. During his trial the following year, Ashanti admitted that once she realized Devar was at it again, she and her family were downright terrified.
CTV News reported that Ashanti had hired additional security guards to protect herself and her family from Devar. She explained that they were worried because they didn’t know what he was going to do next.
But in Devar’s opinion, none of his actions could be viewed as even slightly harmful. Devar represented himself during the trial, which meant he was able to cross-examine Ashanti. He claimed that since she hadn’t blocked his Twitter accounts, she must have been fine with what he had sent.
Ashanti Stood Her Ground in Court
Ashanti didn’t need to justify why she hadn’t blocked Devar, but she explained herself anyway. She argued that no matter what he believed, he had still violated the protection orders by communicating with her and her family.
Ashanti hadn’t realized the profiles belonged to Devar because they didn’t include any identifying information about him. She also mentioned that the police told her not to block his social media accounts.
Devar admitted to sending all of the tweets, which he claimed were about his supposed consensual relationship with Ashanti. It seemed like the trial should have easily resulted in a guilty verdict, especially since he had already served time in jail for stalking Ashanti and her family before. But what happened next was completely unexpected.
Page Six reported that one of the jurors got sick while discussing Devar’s verdict, which resulted in a mistrial. In 2015, the second trial took place. Unfortunately, it also ended in a way that didn’t offer any protection or help to Ashanti and her family.
At Devar’s second trial, the jury found him guilty of nine lesser charges. They couldn’t come to an agreement about the more serious stalking charge, which led to yet another frustrating mistrial.
In March 2016, the family was forced to confront Devar in the courtroom for a third time. Justice was finally served. He was found guilty of stalking in the second degree, which was a huge relief for Ashanti and her family.
According to the website Rap-Up, Ashanti shared an emotional message on her Instagram after the guilty verdict was announced. She wrote that it was a blessing that the case had finally come to an end and thanked her followers for their prayers and support. Ashanti also encouraged other women in similar situations to be brave and stay strong.
Devar Was Released in March 2017
Later that month, TMZ revealed that Devar had been sentenced to 16 months to 4 years in prison. Not only that but after his eventual release, a new restraining order would be in effect. Once Devar was done with his sentence, he would be forbidden from contacting Ashanti and her family for five years.
But even though it seemed like good news that he would be behind bars again, there was one shocking detail that could change everything. Devar had already been sitting in prison for nearly 3 years while his trials were going on, and he would most likely get credit for all of the time he’d served. That meant he could possibly be released right after receiving his sentence.
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However, according to the details of his court records that were published on the CaseText website, he wasn’t able to immediately walk free. But he didn’t have to spend very long behind bars, especially considering the severity of his criminal charges and how long he repeatedly stalked Ashanti and her family.
Ultimately, Devar was released in March 2017, not even a full year after he was sentenced. It doesn’t look like he’s made any major headlines since then. Hopefully, he’s left Ashanti and her family alone once and for all.
It’s honestly crazy that Ashanti had a stalker for several years, and somehow managed to keep the scary ordeal basically out of the public eye. It’s awful that she and her family struggled to feel safe because of Devar’s creepy and delusional obsession, but hopefully, they never have to deal with him again.
