16 October 2025 :
October 15, 2025 - Mississippi. Charles Ray Crawford, 59, White, was executed on October 15
After spending more than 30 years on death row, Crawford was put to death by lethal injection in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.
Crawford was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. local time.
On January 29, 1993 Crawford kidnapped 20-year-old Kristy Ray from her home, then raped and killed the girl. At the time of his arrest, Crawford was days away from going to trial on a separate assault charge. That stemmed from an attack in 1991 in which Crawford was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl and hitting her friend with a hammer. Despite his assertions that he had experienced blackouts and did not remember committing either the rape or the hammer attack, Crawford was found guilty of both charges in two separate trials.
Crawford was sentenced to death on April 23, 1994. He was also given a life sentence without parole for rape, plus 15 years and 30 years for burglary and sexual battery respectively. Additionally, Crawford was found guilty of rape in the other case he committed prior to Ray's killing. He was sentenced to 46 years in prison for the offence.
Crawford's attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing his Sixth Amendment rights were violated when his defense lawyers conceded guilt and pursued an insanity defense against his wishes.
"It’s almost like he didn’t even get the chance to have [an] innocent or guilty matter because his attorney just overrode his wishes from the outset," said Krissy Nobile, the director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Relief, who represented Crawford.
The Mississippi Supreme Court rejected the appeal in September, ruling it was filed too late.
Crawford becomes the 2nd person executed in Mississippi this year, and the 25th since the state restarted executions in 1983.
This is the 38th execution of the year in the US, and the n° 1645 overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
