Charles Crawford would be sentenced to death by the State of Mississippi for the murder of Kristy Ray
According to court documents Charles Crawford would kidnap seventeen year old Kristy Ray from her home. She would later be sexually assaulted and murdered
Charles Crawford would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is Charles Crawford Now
Charles Crawford is incarcerated at Mississippi State Prison
Charles Crawford Case
On April 13, 1991, seventeen-year-old Kelly Roberts [Footnote 1 in the original noted the court’s use of Sue as a pseudonym] was riding around Walnut, Mississippi, with her friend Nicole Cutberth. The girls were in Nicole’s grandfather’s car. The girls had been told to put fluid in the car and had purchased what was needed. They saw Charles Ray Crawford in the Twin Oaks parking lot and went over to ask if he would help them put fluid in the car. Crawford had his young son with him at the time. Crawford agreed to help and told the girls to drive over to the ballpark. They did, and Crawford met them there. While putting fluid in the car, Crawford told Kelly that he needed to talk to her about something but refused to say what it was about.
Later that evening, as the girls continued to drive around, they spotted Crawford. They flashed their lights to pull him over. Kelly asked Crawford what he wanted to talk to her about. Crawford told her they needed to get out of Walnut to talk because his ex-wife Gail might find out he was talking to her and stop him from seeing his son. [Footnote 2 from the original. “Kelly is Crawford’s ex-sister-law. Crawford was married to Kelly’s older sister, Janet. Janet and Crawford divorced, and he remarried a woman named Gail Thompson. After having a son together, they also divorced. In April 1991, Crawford began seeing Janet again.”] Crawford told them to meet him at Chalybeate Cemetery.
After finding Crawford parked at the cemetery, the girls pulled up their car beside his truck and rolled down the window. Crawford, who no longer had his son with him, told Kelly to get in the truck so they could talk. Kelly did and Crawford told her that her boyfriend had pictures of Kelly that were “pretty bad.” Crawford also told her that he had gotten the pictures from her boyfriend and planned to get rid of them. Kelly told Crawford she wanted the pictures. Crawford replied that the pictures were at his house and she should tell Nicole they needed to ride to his house. Kelly and Nicole then got in Crawford’s truck, and he drove them to his house.
As they drove by the school, Crawford asked the girls to “scrunch down” in the truck so no one would see them. Crawford then parked by a nearby abandoned house instead of parking at his house. When they parked, Crawford told Nicole to stay in the car and told Kelly to walk with him to his house. When Kelly and Crawford got inside the back door of the house, Crawford stopped and told Kelly to stay there so he could make sure nobody was home. Kelly saw him walking through the house. When Crawford returned, he pulled a gun and put it to Kelly’s head.
Crawford told her to do what he said and not to yell and no one would get hurt.
He told Kelly to get on the floor. As she did, she asked why he was doing this. Crawford told her to shut up. He taped her mouth shut with duct tape. He then told her to put her hands behind her back. When she did, Crawford taped her hands together.
Crawford pulled Kelly up and led her through the kitchen into a bedroom. Crawford lay Kelly on the bed and began removing her shoes. Kelly loosened the tape on her mouth by licking it with her tongue so she could speak. Kelly told Crawford he could not touch her because she was on her period. Crawford told her he would take care of it. Crawford pulled her pants and panties off then removed her tampon. He then engaged in sexual intercourse with her.
Afterwards, Kelly asked Charles Crawford not to hurt Nicole. Crawford told her not to move and went outside. Kelly heard a noise then heard Crawford come back inside the house. Crawford ran into the bedroom and said somebody was there. Crawford grabbed Kelly up and they ran out of the house. As they ran out, Crawford said, “What have I done? We’ve got to get out of here. Somebody is here.”
When they got back to the truck, Kelly did not see Nicole, but she did see a hammer. Kelly asked Charles Crawford where Nicole was, and Crawford responded that he had hit Nicole and she had run away. Crawford then looked at Kelly and said, “What have I done? Janet is going to hate me.” Kelly responded by saying “please don’t hurt me.”
Charles Crawford and Kelly walked back toward Crawford’s house, and he untaped her. Kelly was able to pull her clothes back on as they got back to the house. Crawford then handed Kelly the gun and told her to shoot him. Kelly told him that she could not do it. Crawford then said that he needed to see Janet. Crawford asked her to go to Memphis, Tennessee with him to see Janet. Kelly agreed to go because she was worried he might hurt her or her sister if she did not.
Kelly and Charles Crawford got back in Crawford’s truck and began driving on back roads toward Memphis. On the way, they stopped at Barry King’s house and Crawford asked to borrow his car because he knew the law would be looking for him. King refused but told Crawford to go ask Jackie Brooks if he could borrow his vehicle. Crawford and Kelly drove to Brooks’s house and Crawford asked Jackie to borrow his truck because he was running from the law. Brooks refused to allow him to borrow his truck but did agree to drive him to Memphis. Brooks told Crawford to park his truck behind his house. Brooks and his wife then drove Crawford and Kelly to Memphis. There, they dropped Crawford and Kelly off at Timmy Joiner’s house and returned home.
Joiner, a friend of Crawford’s, drove Charles Crawford and Kelly to a nearby Budget Inn and secured a room for them. Joiner left the two of them in the room and went back to his house. Crawford asked Kelly if she was scared. When she said she was, Crawford responded that she should not be. Kelly asked to talk to Janet, and Crawford began crying and saying he was sorry. Crawford slept on the foot of Kelly’s bed holding her foot so she could not get away.
The next day, Joiner picked up Charles Crawford and Kelly and they drove to a few different convenience stores where Crawford tried to use the phone. Crawford finally told Joiner to pull over somewhere so he could think. They pulled down a little road and stopped. Crawford began saying he was going to kill himself. Joiner calmed him down, and Crawford told Joiner to take Kelly to call Janet.
Joiner and Kelly then left Charles Crawford where he was and drove to a pay phone. Kelly talked to Janet and told her that Crawford had raped her. Janet asked to speak to Joiner again. When Joiner got off the phone with Janet, he said that he did not understand what was going on, but that Janet had told him to tell Crawford to turn himself in to the police. Kelly cried as they drove back to where they left Crawford, and Joiner told Crawford that Janet said he should turn himself in to the police.
Joiner then drove Charles Crawford to a convenience store where Crawford dialed 911 and turned himself in to police. Joiner drove Kelly to meet Janet. Kelly was taken to a local hospital, and a rape kit and hair samples were taken.
Meanwhile, Deputy Greg Hopper, Chief Deputy Tommy Story, and other officers from the Tippah County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call that someone had been hit in the head. They arrived at Crawford’s grandparents’ house and found Nicole lying on a stretcher. Nicole told the officers that Kelly needed help and that she was at Crawford’s house.
The deputies then went to Crawford’s house. They knocked and yelled, but no one answered the door. Deputies found no one inside the house but did find a used tampon in the bedroom, a roll of duct tape with hair on the kitchen table, and a strip of duct tape with hair inside the house. The back door was open, and the deputies saw blood on the stairs. They also saw footprints in the garden and followed them to a nearby abandoned house. Outside they found more duct tape with hair. Relatives gave the deputies a description of Crawford’s truck and an all-points bulletin (APB) was sent out.
Later, deputies located Crawford’s truck behind Brooks’s residence. The Memphis Police Department recovered a .22 caliber R & G revolver and apprehended Crawford. The hair found on the roll of duct tape and various pieces of duct tape found in and outside of Crawford’s residence were compared with known samples of Kelly’s hair and Crawford’s hair. Some hair on the tape matched Kelly’s known hair samples and some matched Crawford’s known hair samples.
Charles Crawford was indicted by the Tippah County Grand Jury for the kidnap and rape of Kelly (cause number 5780)—the case [then before the Supreme Court.] Crawford also was separately indicted for aggravated assault of Nicole (cause number 5779). Both cases eventually were tried separately in Chickasaw County, after the trial court granted Crawford’s motion for a change of venue.
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