Marine, back from Iraq, shot dead in his home town
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 until he was nearing the end of his 30-day leave.
He apparently had a troubled family. Holt wouldn’t discuss it except to say “his mom and dad didn’t raise him, just his grandmother and me.” He didn’t smoke or drink, she said.
He had attended Cleveland’s inner-city East High School, but asked that he be allowed to live with his aunt and grandmother and attend suburban Bedford High School for his final two years.
“He saw his school was in turmoil and asked to get out,” Holt said.
Bedford High teachers recalled Crutchfield’s smile, his pride in his appearance, his determination to join the Marine Corps after graduation in 2005 and his aspiration to become an architect.
“He was friendly and kind and willing to help out in any way that he could,” counselor Yvonne Sims said in an e-mail.
Connie LaNasa, who works in the school office, said Crutchfield was a well-behaved student and went about his school work with little notice.
“He lived out what he wanted to do and that is to be a Marine,” LaNasa said.
Faculty members remembered Crutchfield as a top student in the computer design program, an office assistant and participant in the prom fashion show.
After his long hospitalization, an infection broke out a week before he died. “He said it felt like he was getting hit by lightning,” Holt said.
When Crutchfield’s body was laid out Tuesday in the Sacrificial Missionary Baptist Church, his white military dress hat was tugged down close to his eyes to conceal the skull flap that had been kept open to relieve swelling in his brain.
Marines provided an honor guard at his funeral service and carried the casket to his grave at the Western Reserve National Cemetery near Akron.
Wild Thing’s comment…….
This is so sad!! What an awful tragedy!! Prayers for his family. LCpl Crutchfield wasn’t the one who didn’t deserve to live. I hope they fry those two worthless creeps.
And all we need to do is to have a separate Independence Day, Juneteenth Day’ and all this will go away. Sorry but the solution goes much deeper than adding another holiday. It has to start with personal responsibility.
This burns me up! You don’t go kill someone for fun. I guess whoever did this was NEVER taught that by his mommy, who probably is sitting behind bars herself. This is a BIG problem in today’s world. So many are so uncaring and hate filled. These killer children are monsters, uncontrolled, unchecked and allowed to run wild like Feral children because there is no one to tell them “NO!” or to show them that what they are doing is very wrong.
I am so sorry for his family. How tragic to lose one of the best to something so terribly stupid. Time for us to take back our families and keep our kids off the streets and from falling into anarchy and the wrong crowd. God made us parents for a reason and it’s up to us to raise our kids right.
God Bless the Crutchfield family and may he hold them safe and secure in his hand until they meet again in Glory.
A fine young man gunned down in the prime of his life by animals with no regard for human life.
It seems we’re so concerned with making Iraq safe but in 2006 over 17,000 Americans were murdered on the streets of America.
I was on honor guard detail at Ft Bragg in April of 71 and buried a young Black soldier just back from Vietnam. He was killed the same way.
It is probably worse now. Government is not the answer. It is up to the community to make changes.
Thank you WT, I put up something about this too. As soldiers we are told not to be confrontational toward civilians, Cpl. Crutchfield died as a result of trying not to offend anyone.
“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,” Alberta Holt an aunt said.
You bet your A$$$ I’m pissed. The callous disregard for human life is compounded by the demonization of our men and women in uniform, just because they serve our nation. Here is a black man who was raised by his grandmother, who became something of his own and rose above the abject poverty that shackled his family. Tom is so right about “It is up to the community to make changes.”
Mark, yes just make more and more holidays to appease is all it would do and actually make matters worse.
I agree so much it takes personal responsibilty.
Lynn, me too, here they go and live 24/7 risking their lives. Then they come home where they should be safe and respected and they get trashed, killed, beat up all kinds of horrible things. I hope they punish those that did this to the max….the death penalty.
BobF, I hope they execute those that did this. I have had it with this happening to our soldiers when they come back.
Your right too that our streets in so many cities are just not safe at all. I blame PC from the lawyers and judges that keep letting these sickos back out on the streets.
Tom oh wow, thank you for sharing about that.
I agree it is up to the local areas, the communities and the local courts to start to come down hard on these people doing things like this. They keep letting them out of jail and making excuses for this kind of trash human beings that kill people like this. grrrrr
Jack Oh GOOD. I am so glad you posted about it too. I am really angry about this. It has been happening a lot and it darn well better stop now! It ne ver should have happned ever, never, ever.
My condolences to his family. It is sad. I wiped the rest of my post in reverence for Lance Cpl. Crutchfield. May God bless him and his family.