Former policeman executed for slaying of Conroe boy

AP
Hilton Crawford

Texas Department of Criminal Justice
450 Offenders are Currently on Death Row

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas Executions ping list!. . .don't be shy.

http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Pending/03/jul03.htm

Date of scheduled execution State Victim name Inmate name Status

July 2, 2003 Texas McKay Everett, 12 Hilton Crawford executed

McKay Everett was kidnapped, beaten and shot to death because the boy and his parents trusted Hilton L. Crawford completely, a prosecutor told jurors in Crawford's capital murder trial. "This case is about the ultimate betrayal," Nancy Neff said in the opening day of Crawford's trial on capital murder charges. With that, Neff and fellow Montgomery County prosecutor Mike Aduddell called on the 12-year-old's parents -- Carl and Paulette Everett of Conroe -- for their testimony supporting the accusation that Crawford tried to cash in on the family's trust in a kidnapping scheme. In her often-tearful recollection of Sept. 12, 1995 -- the day McKay was snatched from home while his parents attended an Amway sales meeting -- Mrs. Everett said Crawford called her a few hours before the meeting and asked if she and her husband still planned to attend. She said Crawford, who had been recruited into Amway by her husband, told her he was planning to bring two or three other people, whose names she did not recall. But the Everetts and other witnesses noted that Crawford was a no-show at the meeting, which was being held especially for him. Neff suggested to jurors that the call to Paulette Everett was a ploy by Crawford to make sure that McKay would be at home so that he could carry out a kidnapping plan involving a $500,000 ransom. McKay Everett is dead because Hilton Crawford wanted a half-million dollars," Neff told the eight women and four men of the jury. It was believed that Crawford struck the 100-pound boy on the head with multiple crushing blows while the youth was in the trunk of Crawford's car, and later shot him in southern Louisiana, where the body was found in a patch of weeds four days later. "He had been left to rot in Louisiana," Neff said of McKay's badly decomposed body. Crawford admitted involvement in the boy's abduction, but he denied killing McKay, who knew him by the pet name "Uncle Hilty. "McKay's parents said the boy trusted Crawford so much that he was one of the few people McKay would have allowed into the house while they were away by unlocking the doors and de-activating a sophisticated security system. Mrs. Everett, 46, said the relationship that she and her husband had with Crawford and his wife, Connie, began when the two women met and taught school together at Rice Elementary in Conroe 15 years ago. Mrs. Everett said she quit teaching to stay at home after McKay was born. Asked by Neff if the Crawfords had remained friends with her family through the years, Mrs. Everett replied: "I thought they were." A woman accused of helping in the abduction and murder was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading no contest to kidnapping. Irene V. Flores was originally charged with capital murder in the death of McKay Everett, a seventh-grader snatched from his home on Sept. 12, 1995, but prosecutors reduced the charge to kidnapping. Flores, a 55-year-old mother of four, pleaded before state District Judge Fred Edwards. Edwards told her he considered her plea to be guilty rather than no contest, and imposed the 25-year term. She will not be eligible for parole for at least 12 1/2 years. Flores was accused of placing a ransom call to the victim's parents on the night of the kidnapping, telling Carl Everett he must pay $500,000 to get his son back. The boy's body was later found in a swamp about 15 miles east of Lafayette, La. He had been beaten and shot to death. Hilton Crawford, a longtime friend of the Everett family, is on death row for the killing after his 1996 capital murder conviction. Prosecutors said the 58-year-old, whom the boy knew as "Uncle Hilty," fell on hard financial times before deciding to kidnap his friend's son. He killed the boy when the plan began to unravel. Flores was on parole after a drug conviction when she placed the ransom call. She has maintained since her arrest that Crawford duped her into making the call and that she thought McKay would not be harmed. McKay's father addressed Flores in the courtroom, telling her she was as much to blame as Crawford for the boy's death. "Hilton killed McKay," said Carl Everett. "Irene Flores can sit here today and plead no contest to a lesser charge, but she is just as guilty of killing McKay as Hilton. You took an active part in killing a child. You crossed over a boundary that you can never come back from. You are ... no good." Prosecutors said the Everett family had agreed to the lesser charges for Flores. Who was McKay Everett? He was born March 1, 1983, in a labor so difficult for his mother that his father worried about losing his wife. At the time of his death, McKay was a seventh-grader at Peet Junior High, weighing only 101 pounds and topping 5-feet by just an inch. His eyes were blue, his hair light brown. He had braces on his teeth. He had no brothers or sisters. He liked going to camp and he liked to play sports. Hilton Crawford knew all this. He had given McKay a football not long before snatching the boy from his home. The football was clutched at a press conference by Carl Everett as he pleaded for his son's safe return. ``I want to take this opportunity to talk to Hilton, who is someone that my family has loved dearly,'' Everett said that day. ``Hilty, something's happened, and I don't know what's happened, but there's been a lot of people involved now. But there's one still missing - and that's McKay. In my heart, I know that you would never harm my son. You gave him this ball. He called you Uncle Hilty, and he loved you dearly. Three weeks ago, we were at your home playing with this ball and when we got ready to leave, I told McKay, `Go give Uncle Hilty a hug,' and he came over and he hugged you and he kissed you on the forehead.'' UPDATE: Convicted killer Hilton Crawford, fondly known to his 12-year-old victim as "Uncle Hilty," was executed Wednesday evening for the abduction and slaying of a Conroe boy almost eight years ago. Crawford nodded and smiled to witnesses, asking for forgiveness and expressing love for his family. "I thank Jesus Christ. I had an opportunity to serve Jesus Christ, I'm very thankful for that," he said. The victim's mother, Paulette Everett-Norman, was standing behind a window just a few feet from her son's killer when he turned toward her and said, "I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day I hope you will. It's a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry." He asked a witness to deliver a yellow rose to his wife, Connie. He told his wife, who wasn't present, that he loved her and his sons. "They were the greatest gift from God. May God pass me over to the kingdom's shore softly and gently. I am ready," he said. "I'm ready," he said just before the dose of lethal drugs began. He nodded and gasped before losing consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., eight minutes after the drugs began to flow.

Executed only 8 years after the crime? Why the rush to judgement? Shouldn't it have been around 20 years?

Crawford's last statement:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/crawfordhiltonlast.htm

Date of Execution:

July 2, 2003

Offender:

Hilton Crawford #999200

Last Statement:

First of all, I would like to ask Sister Teresa to send Connie a yellow rose. I want to thank the Lord, Jesus Christ, for the years I have spent on death row. They have been a blessing in my life. I have had the opportunity to serve Jesus Christ and I am thankful for the opportunity. I would like to thank Father Walsh for having become a Franciscan, and all the people all over the world who have become my friends. It has been a wonderful experience in my life. I would like to thank Chaplain Lopez, and my witnesses for giving me their support and love. I would like to thank the Nuns in England for their support. I want to tell my sons I love them; I have always loved them - they were my greatest gift from God. I want to tell my witnesses, Tannie, Rebecca, Al, Leo, and Dr. Blackwell that I love all of you and I am thankful for your support. I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day, I hope you will. It is a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry. My special angel, I love you. And I love you, Connie. May God pass me over to the Kindom's shore softly and gently. I am ready.

Last updated: 07/03/2003

Yep, eight years. I think around 10 years is the average for Texas.

Well, justice was served. It's the best you can do for a condemned killer, I feel, because it forces them to face up to the reality of their sins.

May God have mercy on his soul.

Good, just in time for July 4th.May this animal's victims have some peace and comfort now he has left this mortal coil.

I'm always a little more than skeptical of death row conversions. Are they truly sorry for their actions or just sorry they got caught? I don't think the perpetrator even knows.

And another one bites the dust.

Date of scheduled execution	State	Victim name	Inmate name	Status
July 2, 2003	Texas	McKay Everett, 12	Hilton Crawford	executed
McKay Everett was kidnapped, beaten and shot to death because the boy and his parents trusted Hilton L. Crawford completely, a prosecutor told jurors in Crawford's capital murder trial. "This case is about the ultimate betrayal," Nancy Neff said in the opening day of Crawford's trial on capital murder charges. With that, Neff and fellow Montgomery County prosecutor Mike Aduddell called on the 12-year-old's parents -- Carl and Paulette Everett of Conroe -- for their testimony supporting the accusation that Crawford tried to cash in on the family's trust in a kidnapping scheme. In her often-tearful recollection of Sept. 12, 1995 -- the day McKay was snatched from home while his parents attended an Amway sales meeting -- Mrs. Everett said Crawford called her a few hours before the meeting and asked if she and her husband still planned to attend. She said Crawford, who had been recruited into Amway by her husband, told her he was planning to bring two or three other people, whose names she did not recall. But the Everetts and other witnesses noted that Crawford was a no-show at the meeting, which was being held especially for him. Neff suggested to jurors that the call to Paulette Everett was a ploy by Crawford to make sure that McKay would be at home so that he could carry out a kidnapping plan involving a $500,000 ransom. McKay Everett is dead because Hilton Crawford wanted a half-million dollars," Neff told the eight women and four men of the jury. It was believed that Crawford struck the 100-pound boy on the head with multiple crushing blows while the youth was in the trunk of Crawford's car, and later shot him in southern Louisiana, where the body was found in a patch of weeds four days later. "He had been left to rot in Louisiana," Neff said of McKay's badly decomposed body. Crawford admitted involvement in the boy's abduction, but he denied killing McKay, who knew him by the pet name "Uncle Hilty. "McKay's parents said the boy trusted Crawford so much that he was one of the few people McKay would have allowed into the house while they were away by unlocking the doors and de-activating a sophisticated security system. Mrs. Everett, 46, said the relationship that she and her husband had with Crawford and his wife, Connie, began when the two women met and taught school together at Rice Elementary in Conroe 15 years ago. Mrs. Everett said she quit teaching to stay at home after McKay was born. Asked by Neff if the Crawfords had remained friends with her family through the years, Mrs. Everett replied: "I thought they were." A woman accused of helping in the abduction and murder was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading no contest to kidnapping. Irene V. Flores was originally charged with capital murder in the death of McKay Everett, a seventh-grader snatched from his home on Sept. 12, 1995, but prosecutors reduced the charge to kidnapping. Flores, a 55-year-old mother of four, pleaded before state District Judge Fred Edwards. Edwards told her he considered her plea to be guilty rather than no contest, and imposed the 25-year term. She will not be eligible for parole for at least 12 1/2 years. Flores was accused of placing a ransom call to the victim's parents on the night of the kidnapping, telling Carl Everett he must pay $500,000 to get his son back. The boy's body was later found in a swamp about 15 miles east of Lafayette, La. He had been beaten and shot to death. Hilton Crawford, a longtime friend of the Everett family, is on death row for the killing after his 1996 capital murder conviction. Prosecutors said the 58-year-old, whom the boy knew as "Uncle Hilty," fell on hard financial times before deciding to kidnap his friend's son. He killed the boy when the plan began to unravel. Flores was on parole after a drug conviction when she placed the ransom call. She has maintained since her arrest that Crawford duped her into making the call and that she thought McKay would not be harmed. McKay's father addressed Flores in the courtroom, telling her she was as much to blame as Crawford for the boy's death. "Hilton killed McKay," said Carl Everett. "Irene Flores can sit here today and plead no contest to a lesser charge, but she is just as guilty of killing McKay as Hilton. You took an active part in killing a child. You crossed over a boundary that you can never come back from. You are ... no good." Prosecutors said the Everett family had agreed to the lesser charges for Flores. Who was McKay Everett? He was born March 1, 1983, in a labor so difficult for his mother that his father worried about losing his wife. At the time of his death, McKay was a seventh-grader at Peet Junior High, weighing only 101 pounds and topping 5-feet by just an inch. His eyes were blue, his hair light brown. He had braces on his teeth. He had no brothers or sisters. He liked going to camp and he liked to play sports. Hilton Crawford knew all this. He had given McKay a football not long before snatching the boy from his home. The football was clutched at a press conference by Carl Everett as he pleaded for his son's safe return. ``I want to take this opportunity to talk to Hilton, who is someone that my family has loved dearly,'' Everett said that day. ``Hilty, something's happened, and I don't know what's happened, but there's been a lot of people involved now. But there's one still missing - and that's McKay. In my heart, I know that you would never harm my son. You gave him this ball. He called you Uncle Hilty, and he loved you dearly. Three weeks ago, we were at your home playing with this ball and when we got ready to leave, I told McKay, `Go give Uncle Hilty a hug,' and he came over and he hugged you and he kissed you on the forehead.'' UPDATE: Convicted killer Hilton Crawford, fondly known to his 12-year-old victim as "Uncle Hilty," was executed Wednesday evening for the abduction and slaying of a Conroe boy almost eight years ago. Crawford nodded and smiled to witnesses, asking for forgiveness and expressing love for his family. "I thank Jesus Christ. I had an opportunity to serve Jesus Christ, I'm very thankful for that," he said. The victim's mother, Paulette Everett-Norman, was standing behind a window just a few feet from her son's killer when he turned toward her and said, "I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day I hope you will. It's a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry." He asked a witness to deliver a yellow rose to his wife, Connie. He told his wife, who wasn't present, that he loved her and his sons. "They were the greatest gift from God. May God pass me over to the kingdom's shore softly and gently. I am ready," he said. "I'm ready," he said just before the dose of lethal drugs began. He nodded and gasped before losing consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., eight minutes after the drugs began to flow.