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After Charles Crawford<\/strong> was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a 20-year-old community college student, he was executed on the evening of Wednesday, October 15, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. After his execution, Life & Style<\/em> breaks down everything to know about his crimes.<\/p>\n What Crimes Did Charles Crawford Commit?<\/strong><\/p>\n Crawford was convicted of abducting Kristy Ray<\/strong> from her parents\u2019 home in Mississippi\u2019s Tippah County on January 29, 1993, according to ABC News<\/a><\/em>. Per court records viewed by the outlet, Ray\u2019s mother learned of her disappearance when she noticed her daughter\u2019s car was gone when she arrived home and found a handwritten ransom note on the table.<\/p>\n The same day, a different ransom note about a woman named Jennifer<\/strong> was found in Crawford\u2019s former father-in-law\u2019s attic. The note \u2013 which was made from magazine cutouts \u2013 was turned over to law enforcement, and they began an investigation into Crawford, according to ABC News<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2018The Voice\u2019 Coaches Fight Over Contestant Who Floors Them With Classic \u201990s R&B Song<\/a><\/p>\n He was arrested one day after Ray\u2019s disappearance and claimed he was returning from a hunting trip. However, he later told authorities he blacked out and did not recall killing Ray.<\/p>\n Crawford was just days away from going to trial on a separate assault charge when he was arrested in connection to Ray\u2019s death. The first trial stemmed from a 1991 incident in which Crawford was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl and hitting her friend with a hammer, per the outlet.<\/p>\n He insisted he experienced blackouts and did not remember raping the teen or hitting her friend with a hammer. However, Crawford was found guilty of both charges in two separate trials.<\/p>\n According to ABC News, jurors believed his first rape conviction was an \u201caggravating circumstance\u201d in his capital murder trial for Ray\u2019s death. Due to the two convictions, it was believed that Crawford should receive the death penalty.<\/p>\n Charles Crawford Was Scheduled for Execution in Mississippi<\/strong><\/p>\n Following his conviction, Crawford spent 30 years on death row. He was scheduled to receive lethal injection on October 15, 2025, according to NBC News<\/a><\/em>. His execution took place amid increasing executions nationwide.<\/p>\n Charles Crawford Had Tried to Overturn His Death Penalty Sentence<\/strong><\/p>\n In the three decades since his conviction, Crawford has tried unsuccessfully to overturn his death sentence, per ABC News<\/em>.<\/p>\n Just hours ahead of his execution scheduled for October 2025, his lawyers were appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court with the argument that Crawford should be granted a new trial because his Sixth Amendment rights were violated in his 1994 trial.<\/p>\n In their appeal, Crawford\u2019s lawyers noted they admitted his guilt in the capital murder trial and pursued an insanity defense. However, Crawford repeatedly objected to the insanity argument.<\/p>\n Leah Remini Shares Why She Thought \u2018The King of Queens\u2019 Would Be a Failure<\/a><\/p>\n His legal team cited a 2018 Supreme Court ruling in their argument, which ordered a new trial for a death row inmate and stated that a criminal defendant lawyer cannot override a client\u2019s wish to maintain innocence during a trial.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like he didn\u2019t even get the chance to have innocent or guilty matter because his attorney just overrode his wishes from the outset,\u201d Krissy Nobile<\/strong>, the director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Relief, said about her client Crawford, per ABC News<\/em>.<\/p>\n However, the Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed the argument in September 2025 by stating that they should have brought up the appeal when the court ruling was made in 2018.<\/p>\n Despite his legal team\u2019s attempts to stop his execution, Crawford was given the lethal injection on October 15, 2025, according to the Associated Press<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n