Posted on 06/01/2008 10:00:45 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- On leave from the violence he had survived in the war in Iraq, a young Marine was so wary of crime on the streets of his own home town that he carried only $8 to avoid becoming a robbery target.
Despite his caution, Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield, 21, was shot point-blank in the neck during a robbery at a bus stop.
Feeding and breathing tubes kept him alive 41/2 months, until he died of an infection on May 18.
Two men have been charged in the attack, and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said Friday the case was under review to decide whether to seek the death penalty.
"It is an awful story," said Alberta Holt, the young Marine's aunt and his legal guardian when he was a teenager determined to flee a troubled Cleveland school for safer surroundings in the suburbs.
Crutchfield was attacked on January 5 while he and his girlfriend were waiting for a bus. He had heeded the warnings of commanders that a Marine on leave might be seen as a prime robbery target with a pocketful of money, so he only carried $8, his military ID card and a bank card.
"They took it, turned his pockets inside out, took what he had and told him since he was a Marine and didn't have any money he didn't deserve to live. They put the gun to his neck and shot him," Holt told The Associated Press.
The two men charged in the attack were identified as Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland. Their attorneys did not respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment.
Crutchfield knew he was returning to Iraq for another tour of duty, but had hesitated to tell his family...
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
What an awful tragedy!! Prayers for his family and swift justice to his murderers.
Somebody ping John Murtha. He'll probably want to pin some medals on these heroes after they're caught.
I will pray for our dear Marine. I hope his family is ok.
LCpl Crutchfield wasn't the one who didn't deserve to live. I hope they fry those two worthless creeps.
"The two men charged in the attack were identified as Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland."
Thomas Ray the third. The third what? Perps like this, if guilty, make it hard to defend any moratorium on the d.p.
Rest in peace, Lance Cpl. Crutchfield. America is proud of you.
Cleveland sucks. I got out in 1992 and will never go back.
God Bless that Marine and his family.
God help us all.
The ghetto part of Cleveland might as well be Somalia. I don’t understand why this poor guy felt it necessary to go back. He was a successful marine, why go back to *that*? RIP.
The electric chair sounds too good for these miserable pieces of garbage.
Extermination is the only solution for this.
No, the chair is too humane for them.
Skin them alive
In public
I seriously hope the DA is just saying this as a formality, that he already has determined they will seek the death penalty.
If he really has to think about whether or not to go after the death penalty he shouldn’t be the DA.
Sending prayers for this Marine. What an odd title. CNN makes it sound like he died on the streets but when you read the article he died in the hospital from an infection. He seems to have been talking up to the end. He worked so hard and wanted to be a Marine from the age of 5. It’s like out best and brightest are being killed one by one.
One inch at a time. Every minute. Then the next inch the next minute. Let them fear the next minute that comes up.
Reading the story highlights at CNN really angers me. It says that he joined the Marines to escape a rough childhood. No way in the story does it say that. It says that he wanted to Marine since the age and of 5 and was very well behaved and very friendly. His grandmother and aunt raised him but I don’t get impression that he only joined to “escape”. Their agenda is disgusting.
Should be a federal crime to assault or kill a service member.
Reading the story highlights at CNN really angers me. It says that he joined the Marines to escape a rough childhood. No way in the story does it say that. It says that he wanted to Marine since the age and of 5 and was very well behaved and very friendly. His grandmother and aunt raised him but I don’t get impression that he only joined to “escape”. Their agenda is disgusting.
I agree. CNN is DISGUSTING.
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