Charles Ray Crawford died by lethal injection Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary over 30 years after he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Kristie Ray in Tippah County.

The 59-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:15 pm.

“To my family, I love you,” Crawford said as his last words. “I’m at peace. I’ve got God’s peace. … I’ll be in heaven.”

He also addressed Ray’s family, saying, “To the victim’s family, true closure and true peace, you cannot reach that without God.”

His final words were, “Thank you God for giving me the peace that I have.”

In 1994, Crawford was convicted of capital murder and received a death sentence. The next three decades he pursued appeals challenging the sentence, as well as separate sentences for aggravated assault and rape that were use

See Full Page