I blogged about attending my first Dec. 17th IDTEVASW event here. That day had been a long one for me. I had driven quite a ways to get to the event. After the vigil I went back to my hotel room and got a several hours long call. It was late by the time I got off my phone but I couldn’t sleep. I had to google the names on the slips of paper I had gotten during the vigil:
Patricia Dunn Chicago, IL 1990’s
Shaquanta Langley Chicago, IL 1990’s
Nicole Townsend Chicago, IL 1990’s
I was shocked when I found out that not only was a suspect found but he had gone on trial and been found guilty this month. My Google search came up with stories dated Dec. 17th. The irony made my stomach turn. I had meant to blog about the trial earlier but just couldn’t.
Tonight was the first time since that night that I felt ready to search again.
From NBC Chicago:
Andre Crawford Gets Life Sentence
“A Cook County jury has spared the life of a Chicago man convicted in the rapes and murders of 11 women between 1993 and 1999.
A jury earlier this month took 10 hours to find Andre Crawford guilty of the crimes, convicting him on all counts. A unanimous verdict by the same jury was required for a death sentence.
(snip)
“It only takes two killings to be eligible for death. It was 11. What kind of justice is that?” asked Rena Carlock, the sister of Patricia Dunn, one of Crawford’s victims.
(snip)
Crawford was arrested in 2000 and accused in the series of rapes and murders. One victim was assaulted and left for dead on Thanksgiving night of 1997 but survived. Prosecutors alleged the victims were prostitutes and drug addicts who agreed to trade sex for narcotics but were instead attacked and then raped as they lay dying.
He pleaded not guilty, but DNA evidence linked him to the deaths of Patricia Dunn, Rhonda King, Angel Shatteen, Shaquanta Langley, Sonja Brandon, Nicole Townsend, Cheryl Cross, Tommie Dennis, Sheryl Johnson, Constance Bailey and Evandrey Harris.”
I’ll admit that I waffle on the death penalty. But 11 victims and one that survived?! And who knows if there’s more. If I had been on that jury I suspect I’d have voted for death.
Posted by Vixen as News, Sex Workers at 11:50 PM CST