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Mississippi Prepares for Execution of Charles Crawford After Three Decades on Death Row
JACKSON, MS – Charles Crawford, 59, is scheduled for execution Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. Crawford has spent over 30 years on death row following his conviction for the 1993 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 20-year-old Kristy Ray, a community college student.
This lethal injection comes just months after Mississippi executed its longest-serving death row inmate, contributing to a national increase in executions this year.
Crawford was found guilty of abducting Kristy Ray from her parents’ home in Tippah County on January 29, 1993. Court records indicate that Ray’s mother discovered her daughter’s car missing and a handwritten ransom note left on a table upon returning home.
On the same day, a separate ransom note, pieced together from magazine cutouts and mentioning a woman named Jennifer, was discovered in the attic of Crawford’s former father-in-law. This note was turned over to law enforcement, initiating a search for Crawford, who was arrested the following day, claiming he was returning from a hunting trip. He later told authorities he experienced a blackout and did not recall killing Ray.
At the time of his arrest for Ray’s murder, Crawford was days away from facing trial on a separate assault charge. This earlier charge stemmed from a 1991 incident where Crawford was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl and assaulting her friend with a hammer.
Despite his claims of blackouts and lack of memory regarding both the rape and hammer attack, Crawford was convicted in both trials. His prior rape conviction was presented as an “aggravating circumstance” during his capital murder trial for Ray’s killing, leading to his death sentence.
Over the past three decades, Crawford has made several unsuccessful attempts to overturn his death sentence. His legal team is currently appealing to the U.S.
Supreme Court, seeking a new trial on the grounds that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated during his 1994 trial. The appeal argues that Crawford’s lawyers admitted his guilt and pursued an insanity defense against his express wishes.
This argument references a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that established a criminal defendant’s lawyer cannot override a client’s desire to maintain innocence at trial.
Krissy Nobile, director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Relief and Crawford’s representative, stated, “It’s almost like he didn’t even get the chance to have innocent or guilty matter because his attorney just overrode his wishes from the outset.”
The Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed this argument in September, asserting that Crawford should have filed the appeal sooner and failed to provide sufficient reasoning for the 2018 ruling to be applied retroactively.
Following the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision to set his execution date in September, Nobile noted that Crawford expressed both disappointment and a sense of resolution. “He has a very deep faith in God, and he trusts in God,” Nobile said. “He wants to be the best person he can be with the time he has left.”
Nobile described Crawford as a respected and encouraging presence on death row, actively working within the prison and advocating for other inmates struggling with mental health or requiring medical attention.
The Associated Press attempted to contact Ray’s relatives but received no response. Crawford also declined requests for comment.
Crawford’s planned lethal injection marks the third execution in the U.S. in two days, following executions on Tuesday in Florida and Missouri. So far this year, 37 individuals have been executed in the United States. On Tuesday, Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, was executed in Florida for the 1996 murders of two women, while Lance Shockley was executed in Missouri for the fatal shooting of a state trooper in 2005.