Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin pleaded guilty to the shooting death of Belizean police chief Superintendent Henry Jemmott in a high-profile case. The 34-year-old, who is the ex-wife of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft's son Andrew, wept as she entered her plea in Belize City's Supreme Court on Tuesday, as reported by the UK's Telegraph.

Hartin faced a charge of manslaughter by negligence for shooting Jemmott in the head while they shared a drink near Ashcroft's hotel on Ambergris Caye island in May 2021. Following her court appearance, she expressed her desire for Jemmott's family to find peace and for everyone involved to move on and heal.

With the trial about to commence, Hartin opted to enter her guilty plea. The court is scheduled to hold a sentencing hearing on May 31, as per Channel 5 Belize. Hartin has maintained that on the night of the incident, she and Jemmott were admiring the moon on a pier. He then permitted her to handle his Glock 17 handgun to practice loading and unloading it, at which point it "just went off."

Hartin stated in a June 2022 interview, "I don’t remember ever touching that trigger on the gun so I don’t know what happened, to be honest." She added that she's unsure if the weapon was faulty or not but insisted she's not a murderer and is being set up. Hartin also denied having a romantic relationship with Jemmott.

During Tuesday's proceedings, Judge Ricardo Sandcroft indicated that he was unlikely to deviate from the precedent of a non-custodial sentence and a fine for a guilty plea to manslaughter by negligence. However, in a previous hearing, he informed Hartin that he was not bound to follow the precedent.

Hartin's attorney, Orson Elrington, told reporters that her primary concern was to spare Jemmott's family the anguish of a trial. Last year, Hartin claimed that "corrupt" police officers intended to kill her and make her death look like an unsuccessful jailbreak. Andrew Ashcroft has been awarded custody of the couple's two children.