BELCHERTOWN — A woman who admitted being one of several teenagers to bully 15-year-old South Hadley High School student Phoebe Prince before she took her life in 2010, is back in court — facing criminal harassment charges in a new case.

In the new case, police said Ashley Koske, 23, of South Hadley, formerly known as Ashley Longe, sent threatening messages to another woman via text and social media, saying she was going to “slash her tires and throat.”

The woman who reported the alleged threats to police told authorities she believed the harassment stemmed from a conflict involving a mutual “friend/ex-boyfriend,” according to court records. She also told police that Koske’s family warned her to “take her threats serious.” The woman reported the messages to authorities on Nov. 26, 2016.

Koske was one of the five teenage defendants who were criminally prosecuted in the Prince case during the spring of 2011.

During a 2011 hearing, Koske admitted to bullying Prince as recently as the day the teenager took her own life. Prosecutors said she was the only one of five defendants who took responsibility for her actions from the outset, leading Prince’s mother to praise her “accountability and general remorse.”

After admitting to the facts, a judge continued the criminal case against her without a formal finding.

In the new case, Koske pleaded not guilty Feb. 22 in Eastern Hampshire District Court to threatening to commit murder, threatening to damage a motor vehicle and criminal harassment, court records show.

A woman who identified herself as Koske’s mother declined to comment when reached by phone Monday. Koske remains free on her personal recognizance with special conditions and is expected back in court March 20.

Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.

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