Tweet
The jury that spared serial killer Andre Crawford's life simply couldn't appreciate what it's like to have a mother, a daughter or a cousin slaughtered by a monster, several anguished victims' relatives reasoned Friday.
But a note left in the jury room shows how much the jury struggled: "To the victims, I do not think justice was served."
View the juror's note
The Cook County jury, which viewed countless images of decaying corpses during Crawford's trial, argued bitterly and shed tears before reaching the decision Friday afternoon, several jurors said.
"I felt really bad for the [victims'] families," said juror Jim Aldworth, who wrote the note, obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. "It was really hard to go out and face them."
After six hours of deliberating, two jurors out of 12 refused to vote for death, and Crawford, 47, received the only other sentence available -- life in prison without parole.
As the decision was read in the 26th and California courthouse, gasps and sobs rippled across the packed courtroom. Crawford -- guilty of raping and killing 11 women and attempting to kill another -- sat perfectly still, his fingers interlocked on the table in front of him.
"Oh my God, they didn't just do this," said Claudia Robinson, 54, the only survivor of Crawford's killing spree. Robinson survived because she played dead after being stabbed and beaten repeatedly.
Prosecutors said during closing arguments Thursday that if a man who killed 11 women didn't deserve to die, then who does?
Crawford's attorneys pleaded with jurors to spare Crawford, saying he was a product of a horrific childhood.
Several of the victims' relatives said they hope the horror resumes in prison.
"He needs to be tortured for the rest of his life," said Rena Garlock, whose sister Patricia Dunn was among Crawford's murder victims. "He needs to have the demons eat him for the rest of his life.''
Crawford was responsible for a reign of terror in the New City neighborhood on the South Side, raping and killing the 11 prostitutes and drug addicts in abandoned buildings during a six-year spree between 1993 and 1999.
Crawford was arrested in 2000 by Chicago Police and the FBI. He calmly confessed on videotape to each killing, and DNA evidence tied him to seven of the killings.
He was also convicted of raping and beating Robinson with a two-by-four, shattering her legs. She survived the Thanksgiving 1997 attack.
After his trial ended Thursday night, deliberations became "tense and angry,'' said juror Kimberly Hayward.
By late Friday morning, it became clear that two jurors were not going to budge and that death was off the table, several jurors said.
One male juror was against it because of what Crawford endured as a child, Hayward said, and a woman was "dead-set against the death penalty.''
Hayward, however, favored a death sentence. Some jurors were so angry that Crawford was going to avoid execution that they initially refused to sign the verdict form.
"I felt we failed the families,'' said juror Denise Travers. "I felt we failed the justice system."
The murdered victims were Rhonda King, Patricia Dunn, Angela Shateen, Shaguanta Langley, Tommie Davis, Sheryl Johnson, Constance Bailey, Sonji Brandon, Nicole Townsend, Evandre Harris and Cheryl Cross.
"We are very disappointed with the jury's decision not to impose death in this case, but we must respect their decision," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said.
Even if Crawford had received a death sentence, it's unclear whether it would have been implemented, as the state's moratorium on the death penalty remains in effect.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
How can we leave a decision like this up to 12 people??
Just takes 1 of them to say he lives and Scum like this gets life ... and don't tell me that life in prison is worse than death .. tell that to the victim's family ... this is ridiculous ... you tell me we can not have a law that says if you kill you die .. and we do not care about your upbringing ... we do not care if you were molested as a child ... we do not care if you come from a broken home ...
This is ludicrous ... this slime ball kills 11 people and lives ... some justice system
It's always noon somewhere! 
NBA is a joke
Comment