PARCHMAN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man convicted of kidnapping, raping, and killing a 20-year-old community college student in 1993 was executed Wednesday.
Charles Crawford, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.
Crawford had spent more than 30 years on death row. His execution comes several months after the execution of Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate in a year of increasing executions nationwide.
Given the chance to make a final statement, Crawford said, “To my family, I love you. I’m at peace. I’ve got God’s peace,” and added, “I’ll be in heaven.”
The execution got underway at 6:01 p.m. and Crawford could be seen taking deep breaths. Five minutes later, he was declared unconscious. At 6:08 p.m., his breathing became slower and shallower and his mouth quivered. A minute later, he took a deep breath and then his chest appeared to stop moving.
Crawford was convicted of abducting Kristy Ray from her parents’ home in northern Mississippi’s Tippah County on Jan. 29, 1993. According to court records, when Ray’s mother came home, her daughter’s car was gone and a handwritten ransom note had been left on the table.
On the same day, a different ransom note, made from magazine cutouts and concerning another woman, was found in the attic of Crawford’s former father-in-law. He was arrested a day later and stated that he was returning from a hunting trip.
He later claimed to authorities that he blacked out and did not recall killing Ray.
At the time of his arrest, Crawford was on the verge of trial for a separate assault charge related to an attack in 1991 involving another victim.
Though he asserted blackouts and memory loss regarding both crimes, he was found guilty in both cases. His previous rape conviction was considered an aggravating factor during his capital murder trial, leading to his death sentence.
Over the past three decades, Crawford attempted unsuccessfully to overturn the death sentence. His latest legal motions, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, were declined shortly before his execution, with a dissent noted from three Justices.
Legal representatives argued Crawford's Sixth Amendment rights were violated during his trial, as his lawyers did not honor his wishes to maintain innocence and instead pursued an insanity defense.
In the face of his execution date being set, Crawford reportedly expressed both disappointment and resolution.
The lethal injection was part of a recent wave of executions, marking a total of 38 men executed in the U.S. this year. Six more executions are scheduled for 2025, including that of an inmate convicted of a family murder in Arizona over 30 years ago.
