Hilton Lewis Crawford | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Hilton Lewis CRAWFORD

A.K.A.: "Uncle Hilty"

Classification: Murderer

Characteristics: Kidnapping

Number of victims: 1

Date of murder: September 12,

1995

Date of arrest: 3 days after

Date of birth: March 14,

1939

Victim profile: McKay Everett, 12 (the son of a family friend)

Method of murder: Shooting

(.45 caliber pistol)

Location: Montgomery County, Texas, USA

Status: Executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 2,

2003

Summary:

On Sept. 12, 1995, 12-year-old Samuel McKay Everett was home alone while his parents attended an Amway meeting.

After the meeting, McKay's father Carl Everett, made several calls to his house that went unanswered. Concerned, Everett left his wife at the restaurant and made the 10 minute drive home.

Upon arriving, the phone rang. A woman's voice was on the other end of the line and told Everett, "We got your son." She proceeded to demand $500,000, warned him not to call the police, and said he would receive another phone call in the morning, although no subsequent call was ever received.

After the call ended, Everett dialed 9-1-1, then contacted his wife, and finally called a family friend, Hilton Crawford, whom he knew had prior experience in law enforcement.

A police investigation led to Crawford's car, where blood stains were discovered inside the trunk and on the back bumper. This blood was conclusively determined to belong to the victim.

Cellular phone records were traced from Crawford to Irene Flores on the night of the abduction. Her information provided the probable cause necessary to obtain a warrant for Crawford's arrest.

Crawford was arrested on the morning of Sept. 15, 1995. The next day, while in the Montgomery County jail, Crawford draw a map that led authorities to the victim's body 4 days later in Louisiana.

Crawford admitted involvement in the boy's abduction, but he denied killing McKay, who knew him by the pet name "Uncle Hilty." Crawford claimed that the murder were committed by a man he knew as "R.L. Remmington."

Due to the extensive decomposition, some disagreement arose as to the exact cause of death. Those experts consulted, however, agreed that death resulted from either a gunshot wound to the head or blunt force trauma or a combination of both. Flores pled guilty to Kidnapping and was sentenced to a 25 year term of imprisonment.

Final Meal:

Twelve beef ribs, three enchiladas, chicken fried steak with cream gravy, crisp bacon sandwich, ketchup, a loaf of bread, cobbler, three Cokes, three root beer, French fries, and onion rings.

Final Words:

"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."

ClarkProsecutor.org

Texas Attorney General

Media Advisory

Friday, June 27, 2003

Hilton Lewis Crawford Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information on Hilton Lewis Crawford, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 2, 2003.

On July 24, 1996, Hilton Crawford was sentenced to death for the capital murder of 12-year-old Samuel McKay Everett, which occurred during the course of a kidnapping in Conroe, Texas, on Sept. 12, 1995. Samuel was known as McKay.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On Sept. 12, 1995, 12-year-old Samuel McKay Everett was home alone while his parents attended a business meeting. Hilton Crawford, a family friend who was known by McKay as "Uncle Hilty," had advised McKay's parents that he would also be at the meeting that night. Crawford made at least two calls to McKay's mother, the last one at 5 p.m., to make sure she and her husband still planned to attend. Crawford never arrived at the meeting that night.

Police were able to estimate that the abduction occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. McKay was talking on the phone with his friend, Elizabeth Schaeffer, just moments before he was taken. Schaeffer had noticed the time just before she was informed by McKay that someone was at the door. Schaeffer heard him set the phone down, and through the receiver she heard a door open.

During this time, Bill Kahn, a neighbor across the street, was placing his garbage cans at the end of his driveway and saw a car pull into the driveway of the Everett's home. As Kahn walked back to his own house, he heard no sounds out of the ordinary and never saw any indications of a disturbance.

He walked back to the foot of his driveway with more trash and noticed the same car pull quickly out of the driveway and drive off. Kahn was able to identify the color, make, and model of the car and also noticed a sticker and emblem that read "Crown Motors" affixed to the car's back end.

An hour and a half later, McKay's parents finished their meeting and decided to talk with friends at a nearby restaurant. Carl Everett, the victim's father, made several calls to his house that went unanswered. Concerned, Everett left his wife at the restaurant and made the 10 minute drive home to check on his son.

Upon arriving, his first indication that something was wrong was an outside door to the house stood open. There were no signs of a disturbance, but almost immediately the phone rang. A woman's voice was on the other end of the line and told Everett, "We got your son."

She proceeded to demand $500,000, warned him not to call the police, and said he would receive another phone call in the morning, although no subsequent call was ever received. After the call ended, Everett dialed 9-1-1, then contacted his wife, and finally called Crawford, whom he knew had prior experience in law enforcement.

Although no significant physical evidence could be found at the victim's home, the investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation quickly narrowed its focus upon Crawford. His car was identical to the vehicle Bill Kahn noticed in the Everett driveway the night of the abduction.

Investigators noticed Crawford's car had been thoroughly cleaned both inside and out, the cloth lining in the trunk had been removed and there were indications that part of a "Crown Motors" sticker had recently been removed.

Based on these observations, the agents confiscated Crawford's car. After closer inspection, blood stains and blood spatter patterns were discovered inside the trunk and on the exterior near the car's back bumper. This blood was conclusively determined to belong to the victim. The pattern of blood spatters indicated that the victim had received at least two significant blows while inside the trunk of the car.

Investigators were able to track Crawford's movements on the night of the abduction through cell phone records and gasoline and hotel receipts. Police and FBI agents determined that Crawford had contacted several employees of the security company he helped manage and tried to enlist their cooperation to fabricate an alibi. Investigators tracked Crawford's movements the day after the abduction and found he had visited a friend, Billy Allen.

Through subterfuge, Crawford had convinced Allen to help him clean the blood from his car, remove and dispose of the trunk's lining, and hold onto various items, including a bloodstained .45-caliber handgun.

Based on Crawford's cellular phone records, the FBI contacted Irene Flores, whom Crawford had called three times on the night of the abduction. Her information provided the probable cause necessary to obtain a warrant for Crawford's arrest.

Crawford was arrested on the morning of Sept. 15, 1995. The next day, while in the Montgomery County jail, Crawford agreed to help draw a map that led authorities to the victim's body in an area known as Whiskey Bay, Louisiana.

Crawford also provided a detailed account of his version of the kidnapping and murder which he said was instigated and ultimately committed by a man he knew as "R.L. Remmington." Crawford said searchers would be able to find two bullet casings, two slugs, and an unspent bullet at the body site.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Trial proceedings

09/20/95 - Crawford was indicted for the capital murder of Samuel McKay Everett
11/08/95 - Crawford was re-indicted
05/03/96 - The trial court transferred the case to Walker County
07/19/96 - Crawford was found guilty of capital murder
07/24/96 - Crawford was sentenced to death
08/09/96 - Crawford moved for a new trial; following a hearing the request was denied on 09/13/96

Direct appeal and state habeas proceedings

01/20/98 - Crawford filed his brief on direct appeal, raising 27 points of error
06/22/98- The State (through the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office) filed its reply brief on direct appeal
07/17/98 - Crawford filed his state habeas application raising 13 claims
08/12/98- The State answered Crawford's habeas application
09/09/98 - Oral argument was held on direct appeal before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
11/20/98 - The trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law, recommending the denial of habeas relief
12/15/98 - Attorney Roy Greenwood moved to intervene on the state writ and to supplement claims
02/17/99 - The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Crawford's conviction and sentence on direct appeal
03/10/99 - The Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief
05/17/99 - Crawford petitioned for writ of certiorari review off his direct appeal
10/04/99 - The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review Federal habeas proceedings and appeal thereof
10/25/99 - Attorney Roy Greenwood was appointed as federal habeas counsel
12/07/99 - Attorney Ken McLean was appointed as co-counsel
11/22/00 - Crawford filed his writ of habeas corpus raising 17 claims
02/27/01 - The State answered and moved for summary judgment
01/30/02 - The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, granted summary judgment and denied habeas relief
02/19/02 - Crawford moved for the district court to reconsider its opinion
02/28/02 - The district court denied Crawford's request
02/28/02 - Crawford filed notice of appeal
06/24/02 - Crawford filed for COA in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
08/26/02 - The State filed a brief in opposition opposing any grant of COA
12/17/02 - The 5th Circuit issued its opinion denying a COA
01/14/03 - Crawford petitioned for rehearing
01/28/03 - The 5th Circuit denied rehearing
02/11/03 - The 9th Judicial District Court of Montgomery County, set Crawford's execution for July 2, 2003
02/21/02 - Crawford mailed a third state habeas application to the Montgomery County trial court
03/26/03 - The Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the writ application as an abuse of the writ
04/01/03 - Crawford petitioned for writ of certiorari of the Fifth Circuit's opinion
05/21/03 - The State (through TDCJ-ID Director Janie Cockrell) filed a brief in opposition
06/03/03 - Crawford filed a reply to the Director's brief in opposition
06/23/03 - The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review

ProDeathPenalty.com

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.

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson

Txexecutions.org

Hilton Lewis Crawford, 64, was executed by lethal injection on 2 July 2003 in Huntsville, Texas for the kidnapping and murder of a 12-year-old boy.

On the evening of 12 September 1995 in Conroe, Crawford, then 56, placed two phone calls to his friends, Carl and Paulette Everett. He had invited them to a home business franchise meeting and was calling to confirm their attendance. Crawford, however, did not show up at the meeting.

Instead, while the Everetts were away, he went to their home. According to prosecutors, Crawford knocked on the front door, and the Everetts' only child, 12-year-old McKay, opened it to see the family friend he knew as "Uncle Hilty." Crawford then knocked McKay on the head with a blunt object, locked him in the trunk of his car, and drove off toward Louisiana.

After their meeting, the Everetts went out to dinner with some friends. After making some phone calls home that went unanswered, Carl Everett left his wife at the restaurant and drove home. He found the door ajar and his son missing. Almost immediately, the telephone rang.

A woman demanded $500,000 for McCay's safe return and told him he would receive another phone call in the morning, with instructions for delivering the ransom. After hanging up, Everett called 9-1-1 first, then he phoned his wife. Next, he tried to call Crawford, his friend who had a career in law enforcement and security. The Everetts did not receive the expected follow-up phone call the next morning.

In Louisiana, Crawford drove to a remote area and removed McKay from the trunk. According to prosecutors, Crawford shot McKay twice in the head with a .45-caliber pistol. He then left McKay's body in a swamp. Afterward, he returned home to Texas, hiding his pistol, bloody clothes, and other evidence along the way.

Bill Kahn, a neighbor, told investigators that on the night of the abduction, he saw a car pull into the Everetts' driveway, then quickly drive away after a brief time. His description of the car matched Crawford's gold Chrysler. Investigators found Crawford's car in a storage lot in Beaumont, where Crawford once lived. They observed that the car had been thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and that the cloth lining had been removed from the trunk. Nevertheless, they found blood stains inside the trunk and on the exterior. This blood evidence was matched to the victim.

Crawford was arrested on 15 September. At the time, he admitted to kidnapping McKay, but he would not tell where he was or whether he was alive. The next day, however, Crawford drew a map for police and gave them directions to the precise location where the boy's body could be found. He admitted striking McKay, but said that a man named R. L. Remington fired the gun. Police made a composite drawing of Remington based on Crawford's description.

Remington was never found, and it wasn't long before investigators decided that he never existed. During the investigation, a man came to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, saying that he met Crawford at a Houston horse racing track, and that Crawford dropped hints to him that he needed help carrying out a plan involving a boy.

The man refused to become involved. According to Mike Aduddell, the Montgomery County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Crawford, this man who came forward was the basis for Crawford's physical description of R. L. Remington.

Hilton Crawford was a member of the Beaumont police force from 1961 to 1966. He was a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy from 1966 to 1975. After an unsuccessful campaign for sheriff in 1975, Crawford moved to Conroe in Montgomery County and started his own private security business, which was unsuccessful. He had no prior criminal history.

Because of the intense publicity and public outrage surrounding the case, Crawford's trial was transferred to Huntsville, in Walker County. Prosecutors told the jury that Crawford devised the kidnapping scheme to cover huge gambling debts and pay for a lavish lifestyle, which continued even as his business failed. A jury convicted Crawford of capital murder in July 1996 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in February 1999. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Irene Flores, 52, a former employee of Crawford's, who was to receive $25,000 from him for making the ransom phone calls, said that she never thought McKay would be harmed. She pleaded no contest to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She is eligible for parole in 2008.

After the murder, Paulette Everett suffered a stroke, and she and her husband divorced. She remarried as Paulette Norman and went through three years of physical therapy. While Carl Everett kept a low public profile, Paulette started The McKay Foundation to raise awareness of child safety. "The greatest thing I can contribute is the story of what happened and hope people can look at me and hear my story and have an awareness," she told a reporter.

On death row, fellow inmates called Crawford not "Uncle Hilty," but rather "Old Man." In an interview, he explained how he became so desperate as to kidnap the child of family friends. He said that he sold his security firm and was awaiting the proceeds, but the buyers sold the business to a second group, and his plans collapsed.

The new owners, "some Nigerians," ignored debts owed to Crawford and failed to pay the firm's employees. "These had been my people, so I decided to pay them myself," he said. He borrowed so much money, he was $450,000 in debt. "I guess I could have gone to family for help. I could have struggled. I should have, but I didn't." "I made a wrong decision in my life," Crawford continued. "I really messed up by being involved. I really am sorry." He still claimed that R. L. Remington killed McKay. "I met him at a racetrack in Bossier City [Louisiana]," Crawford said. "I gave him a [business] card. He knew all about the security business."

According to Crawford, Remington told him that "he'd done this before, that no one would get hurt." He said that he waited in his car while Remington abducted McCay. When Irene Flores failed to make any follow-up phone calls to provide ransom instructions, Remington shot McKay. "What happened wasn't supposed to happen," Crawford said.

Other people connected to the case believe that Remington never existed. Remington is "in Hilton Crawford's head," assistant district attorney Aduddell said. Paulette Norman told an interviewer, "I think 'R. L. Remington' is his pistol, and it is his way to disassociate himself with what he did." Crawford, however, never wavered from his account. "I know where Remington is," he told a reporter. "He's in France. I've got an address." Then he added, cryptically, "It will all be made clear in information to be released after I die."

Under Texas law, a person can be convicted of capital murder if the jury finds him to be responsible for the victim's death, even if he is not the person who actually inflicted the fatal injury. Crawford's lawyer, Roy Greenwood, acknowledged that even if Crawford had an accomplice who pulled the trigger, that wouldn't disqualify his capital murder conviction. "He's not innocent. He was a party to a kidnapping capital murder."

Crawford said that he was emotionally and spiritually prepared for his upcoming execution. "I've got peace in my heart," he said. "I'm fine, I really am ... I've been thankful for living as long as I did. I feel sorry for those who have been here 20, 25 years." He said he hoped that Paulette Norman would forgive him, although "If I was on the other side, I don't know if I could."

At his execution, Crawford thanked his family, friends, and spiritual advisors who supported him, and he expressed love to his family. He also thanked "the Lord Jesus Christ for the years I have spent on death row. They have been a blessing in my life." Then, turning his head toward Norman, he said, "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." Crawford finished by saying, "May God pass me over to the Kingdom's shore softly and gently. I am ready." After this, the lethal injection was started. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

"His gesture doesn't mean anything to me," Norman said after the execution. She told reporters that Crawford's last statement showed his desire to detach himself from murdering her son. "I'm not surprised he didn't refer to McKay. He always referred to him [at his trial] as 'the boy.'" Forgiveness, she said, "is God's job."

'Uncle Hilty' Executed for '95 Conroe Murder

By Terry Kliewer - Houston Chronicle

July 3, 2003

HUNTSVILLE -- Convicted child-killer Hilton Crawford asked his victim's mother for forgiveness shortly before he was put to death here Wednesday. But he wouldn't, or perhaps couldn't, bring himself even to mention the name of McKay Everett, the Conroe 12-year-old he kidnapped and murdered in 1995.

It was an omission that Paulette Everett Norman attributed to Crawford's desire, even at the end of his life, to distance himself from his crime. "I'm not surprised he didn't refer to McKay," she told reporters. "He always referred to him (in his 1996 trial) as `the boy.' " She added that she couldn't begin "to understand the criminal mind."

The 64-year-old Crawford was labeled at one point in his trial as "the most hated man in Montgomery County" for his cold-blooded bludgeoning and shooting of the only child of Carl and Paulette Everett, her then-married name.

The failed kidnap plot was intended to enable Crawford to pay off personal debts, but the scheme fell apart before the Everetts could take steps to meet the $500,000 ransom demand that was to have produced the payoff. The crime shocked the region because of its brutality and the betrayal of trust that was at its heart. The onetime friend and neighbor of the Everetts was known as "Uncle Hilty" to his young victim, but Crawford didn't directly mention his victim in his final words.

The execution by injection was deferred for two minutes while Crawford offered a last statement that included thanks to supporters during his stay on death row at the state prison in Livingston. But he also turned his head to the side on the gurney that held him in order to face Norman to say, "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."

Norman told reporters later that she found Crawford's words meaningless, and she declined to speculate that his allusion to "My special angel, I love you" might have been intended to refer to her son. "His gesture doesn't mean anything to me," she said, adding that the forgiveness he asked for "is God's job." She said his remarks represented "a form of detachment" by Crawford.

The ex-lawman, second-oldest convict to be executed by injection in the state of Texas, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., about eight minutes after the lethal chemicals began to be administered in the small green-painted death chamber inside the Walls prison unit here. His final words reflected the return to religion he earlier had said he achieved after arriving on death row after his capital murder conviction in 1996. "May God pass me over to the Kingdom's shore softly and gently," he said. "I am ready." He also said he thanked "the Lord Jesus Christ for the years I have spent on death row. They have been a blessing in my life."

Norman was shaken but appeared relieved that the long wait for Wednesday's ending was done. "I had dreams that McKay would grow into a man with a servant spirit," she said. "That dream was shattered by those whose dream was simply to reduce debt. Today was a most sobering, somber experience, and one I do not really understand." The slaying of McKay Everett reverberated for years afterward in large and small ways across Montgomery County. The most notable outgrowth of the tragedy was Norman's founding of an organization devoted to child safety and protection issues that bears her son's name.

Crawford was condemned to death in 1996 by a Walker County jury that took only one hour to find him guilty of McKay's murder. Prosecutors showed how the onetime Beaumont cop and Jefferson County deputy was deeply in debt and hoped to get $500,000 from the Everetts in exchange for the safe return of their son. Authorities said Crawford's bind was the result of high living, gambling losses and a refusal to dial back his family's lifestyle. His claim was that he owed money to friends who had lent him an estimated $450,000 to cover payrolls for employees at the security business he had sold to unreliable buyers.

Prosecutors were able to show jurors how he had used his family friendship with the Everetts to persuade McKay, left home alone while his parents went to a business function, to open the front door to his house and admit him on the evening of Sept. 12, 1995. They were told how he grabbed the youngster, stuffed him in the trunk of his Chrysler and sped away into the night to Louisiana, where he stopped in a swamp off Interstate 10 to beat and then shoot the boy.

Crawford confessed to involvement in the crime after five days of questioning following his return to Conroe, and he even gave details about where to find McKay's body. But he accused a man named Remington, whom he had met at a Louisiana horse track, of being the killer.

Authorities rejected the claim after finding that the composite drawing of Remington that Crawford helped to create actually resembled a wrecker driver whom he had tried unsuccessfully to enlist in the scheme. The driver, not implicated in the crime, came forward after Crawford's arrest and told how the two had chatted at a horse track about Crawford's interest in finding someone to "babysit" a youngster for a while.

Crawford's execution was the 17th in Texas this year and 306th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. Three other executions are scheduled this month.

TheDeathHouse.com

Crawford, 64, is scheduled for execution July 2 for the kidnap and murder of the 12-year-old son of a family friend.

The victim, Everett McKay, knew Crawford and often referred to him as "Uncle Hilty." Prosecutors said Crawford shot the child twice in the head after kidnapping him.

The kidnapping occurred on September 12, 1995. Prosecutors said Crawford lured the boy's parents from their Conroe area home for an Amway Distributors business meeting.

He then locked the boy in the trunk of his car and drove to Louisiana. A co-defendant, Irene Flores, placed the ransom call to the parents, asking for $500,000 for the safe return of their child. But in Whiskey Bay, La., Crawford drove to a remote area and shot the boy twice in the head. He was arrested three days later and admitted the kidnapping, but would not say where the boy's body was.

The decomposing body was later recover. Crawford was a former Beaumont police officer and Jefferson County deputy sheriff. Crawford has maintained that he was present when the child's body was dumped in the swamp, but claimed he did not kill the boy. Crawford was reported to have been a gambler and had filed for bankruptcy before the kidnapping and murder.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Hilton Crawford, Texas - July 2, 2003

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Hilton Crawford July 2 for the murder of 12-year-old McKay Everett in 1996. Hilton, a white man, allegedly kidnapped the young boy – who was a family friend and referred to him as “Uncle Hilty” – and shot him in the head near Whiskey Bay, Louisiana.

Crawford and his co-defendant, Irene Flores, apparently hatched a plan to kidnap Everett and force his parents to pay $500,000 ransom for his safe return. Crawford, a former police officer and deputy sheriff, reportedly had a gambling problem and had filed for bankruptcy shortly before the murder.

He confessed to participating in the kidnap, but claimed a man named R.L. Remington actually shot the young boy. Investigators never identified Remington.

In a letter from death row, Crawford wrote, “I was a law enforcement officer for 18 years and then went into my own business. I had a wonderful life with a great family and a beautiful home and several horses. One time in my life I got away from God and my pride in trusting someone else beside God and my family got me in here. Thanks for your time and I ask for your prayers.” Crawford, a 56-year-old man at the time of the murder, had no prior record. He is a practicing Christian, as well as an animal lover and an avid sports fan.

The state of Texas has accounted for nearly half of the nation’s executions this year, and more than a third since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. This pending execution, of a man well into his 60’s, represents an unnecessary and cruel penalty that will only perpetuate the cycle of violence in Texas and across the United States. Please contact Gov. Rick Perry and urge him to push for a moratorium on executions and a re-evaluation of the state’s careless and excessive death penalty system.

Deathrow.at

Hilton Crawford - Execution date set for 07/02/2003

Hello, my name Hilton Crawford and I have been on death row in Texas for four years. I am a white male who is 62 years old. I was law enforcement officer for 18 years and then went into my own business. I had a wonderful life with a great family and a beautiful home and several horses. One time in my life I got away from God and my pride in trusting someone else beside God and my family got me in here... I love sports and animals. I am a Christian. Thanks for your time and I ask for your prayers.

Hilton Crawford # 999200
Polunsky Unit
3872 F.M. 350 South
Livingston, Texas 77351 USA

Hilton Crawford Executed for 1995 killing of Montgomery County Boy

By Brian Lacy - The Huntsville Item

July 2, 2003

Hilton Crawford was executed Wednesday night inside the Huntsville "Walls" Unit for murdering 12-year-old McKay Everett in 1995.

During his final statement, Crawford thanked his many family members, friends and spiritual advisors who supported him, and had a special message for his children. "I want to tell my sons I love them. I have always loved them," he said. "They were my greatest gift from God."

The irony of that statement was not lost on Paulette Everett-Norman, who lost her son the night Crawford kidnapped and shot McKay twice before dumping his body in a Louisiana swamp.

Everett-Norman teaches second grade in Willis and works with children every week as part of the McKay Foundation, which was formed after her son's death to educate children and families on how to stay safe. "I watch those moms and think how could I ever do anything (to one of those children)?" she said in a press conference after watching Crawford's execution. "I thought what an odd statement that he can make that his children are a blessing from God, and yet are not all children a gift from God?"

Crawford, a family friend who was called "Uncle Hilty" by McKay, thanked God for the seven years he spent on death row. "They have been a blessing in my life," he said. "I have had the opportunity to serve Jesus Christ and I am thankful for that opportunity." He later turned his head to the right and looked at Everett-Norman, who was standing on the other side of a window. "I want to ask Paulette for forgiveness from your heart. One day, I hope you will," he said. "It is a tragedy for my family and your family. I am sorry. "May God pass me over to the kingdom's shore softly and gently," he said in conclusion. "I am ready." As the lethal dose of drugs began flowing, Crawford gasped and exhaled slowly as he stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

Everett-Norman said Crawford's gesture of asking for forgiveness did not mean anything to her. "Today was a most sobering, somber experience, one that I do not understand," she said. "I do not understand how someone could not give forethought to consequences while committing a crime. "I deeply miss McKay. My dream for McKay was to grow to be a man with a servant spirit. My dreams for McKay were shattered by those who dreamed of reducing debt and purchasing a new home."

McKay was snatched from his Conroe home the night of Sept. 12, 1995, while his parents were at a meeting Crawford also was supposed to attend. Testimony at his trial showed he called the boy's mother at least twice that day to make certain she and her husband would be at the evening session. Crawford, however, was a no-show. A car like his was seen speeding away from the Everett home about 30 minutes after the meeting started. When the boy's parents came home, McKay was gone. When they received a ransom demand for $500,000, they called police.

The investigation led to Crawford, who was facing huge credit card and gambling debts. Authorities found his car at a storage lot in Beaumont, 80 miles to the east. The cloth lining in the trunk had been removed, but blood traces matching the missing boy's blood eventually were detected.

Four days after the abduction and a day after Crawford was arrested and jailed, he drew for investigators a map of a gravel road just north of Interstate 10 in the middle of south Louisiana's Atchafalaya Swamp. What was left of McKay's decomposing body was discovered early Sept. 17 in some weeds. He had been beaten and shot at least twice with a .45-caliber pistol.

Attention surrounding the case led to a change of venue. The trial was moved from Montgomery County and held in the summer 1996, at the Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Center, located four blocks away from the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.

Crawford, a former Beaumont policeman and sheriff's deputy, acknowledged being present when McKay was fatally beaten and shot after he was grabbed from his Montgomery County home. But Crawford insisted the killer in a kidnap-for-ransom scheme that went awry was a mysterious accomplice known to him as R.L. Remington, a man he met at a Louisiana race track.

Prosecutors said Remington was a figment of Crawford's imagination. ''If ever one did, this was a death penalty case,'' said former Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Mike Aduddell, who prosecuted the case. ''As a parent, it obviously changed the way I deal with my children. ''It was a violation of trust.''

''I was guilty for being there and guilty for being involved,'' Crawford said. ''What happened wasn't supposed to happen.'' Asked why he just didn't step in and stop the shooting, he replied: ''I wish I would have, but these people I was involved with, once it got too far, it was impossible to stop.''

Crawford was the 17th inmate executed in Texas this year.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)

'Uncle Hilty' returns to Huntsville

By Brian Lacy - The Huntsville Item

June 30, 2003

On July 19, 1996, Hilton Crawford was convicted by a Walker County jury for the murder of 12-year-old McKay Everett of Conroe. Seven years later, Crawford will be back in Huntsville to serve the final punishment for his crime. He will be executed Wednesday evening inside the Huntsville "Walls" Unit.

McKay was kidnapped from his Conroe-area home on Sept. 12, 1995. Five days later his remains were found in a swamp off Interstate 10 in southwest Louisiana. He had been shot in the head and chest with a .45-caliber pistol. Suspicion quickly turned to Crawford, a close friend of the Everett family, who was affectionately know by McKay as "Uncle Hilty." It was Crawford who finally drew a map for police, leading them to McKay's body. Due to the intense news coverage, the trial was moved from Montgomery County and held at the Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Center. The trial lasted less than two weeks, but had a lasting effect on everyone involved.

To this day, Crawford claims he is innocent. He has always claimed a man named R.L. Remington fired the shots that killed McKay. ''It wasn't me,'' Crawford said in an interview earlier this month with the Associated Press. ''I was guilty for being there and guilty for being involved. What happened wasn't supposed to happen.''

Paulette Everett-Norman, McKay's mother, will witness Wednesday's execution. Since her son's death, she has suffered a stroke, gotten a divorce and undergone years of physical and emotional therapy. ''For years, I said I wouldn't (witness the execution),'' she said in a interview with AP. ''It's not that I am against the death penalty. I think there are just some things in life you do that warrant that kind of punishment. ''I realized that I was avoiding part of this process. Even though I don't like being put in this set of circumstances, the fact is I'm in this set of circumstances, and if I run from it, that's just not good.''

McKay's sudden disappearance from his comfortable suburban home in a heavily wooded neighborhood touched off an intense police hunt and a media frenzy. His parents that evening left him at home as they attended an Amway meeting, and when they returned a couple of hours later he was gone. Within a few minutes, they received a phone call demanding $500,000 ransom in $100 bills. Crawford's name surfaced as the frantic parents assembled for police names of people they knew.

Crawford was supposed to attend the same Amway meeting as the Everetts but was a no-show. Witnesses reported seeing a gold Chrysler like Crawford's speeding through the neighborhood that night. The car was later found at a storage yard in Beaumont, the southeast Texas city where Crawford once worked as a police officer and sheriff's deputy, and midway between Conroe and the Louisiana site where McKay's body was found.

Crawford had been working as a manager for a security company, a business he once owned, but he and his wife had filed for bankruptcy, listing debts of $370,000. Three days after the disappearance, he was arrested on kidnapping charges. The next day, a Saturday night, he told investigators he wanted to get something off his chest and drew them a map of a gravel road just north of I-10 in the middle of south Louisiana's Atchafalaya Swamp.

Mike Aduddell, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Crawford violated the trust of McKay and his parents. ''That's what in so many people's mind had an effect on them, that somebody would do something like this to someone that they knew,'' Aduddell said last week. ''It was just unbelievable.'' Authorities speculated the boy was told his parents had been injured or needed him and that's why he went with his abductor.

Crawford, whose appeals were rejected last week by the U.S. Supreme Court, insists he's had a good life and that he's prepared to die. ''I've been really blessed,'' he said. ''I've brought Christ to several of the men here. I've got peace in my heart.'' He plans to be buried in a Franciscan robe and would like to receive forgiveness from Paulette. ''There's a wall between us,'' he said, acknowledging he understands why she might be hostile. ''If I was on the other side, I don't know if I could. I just pray. I can understand.''

Everett-Norman has emerged from three years of physical therapy. She has remarried and is teaching elementary school again. She also is involved in The McKay Foundation, which seeks to educate children and parents about the possibility of harm. ''The greatest thing I can contribute is the story of what happened and hope people can look at me and hear my story and have an awareness,'' she said.

SCOTUS Rejects Appeal From 'Uncle Hilty'---Crawford Is 2nd Oldest Man On Death Row

Associated Press

Convicted killer Hilton Crawford moved a step closer to his execution scheduled for next week when the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review his case.

Crawford is set to die July 2 for the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Samuel McKay Everett, who was abducted from his home in Conroe, just north of Houston. Crawford had been a longtime friend of the Everett family.

The abduction from the Everett home Sept. 12, 1995, set off a frenzy of publicity that climaxed when Crawford days later drew a map for police that led to the boy's body in a swamp near Lafayette, La., more than 200 miles to the east.

At Crawford's trial, prosecutors argued the killing was the result of a failed extortion scheme in which the man known fondly to McKay as "Uncle Hilty" tried to collect $500,000 in ransom.

In his appeal rejected by the high court Monday, Crawford contended Texas had no jurisdiction in the case since the killing occurred in Louisiana. He also argued his initial appellate lawyers were incompetent.

"We have exhausted all avenues," Roy Greenwood, Crawford's attorney, said. "We did everything we can."

Crawford, who turned 64 in March and is the 2nd-oldest man on Texas' death row, would be the 2nd-oldest Texas inmate to receive lethal injection. Last November, 66-year-old William Wesley Chappell was put to death for a Tarrant County shooting spree that left 3 people dead.

Crawford has insisted all along while he was present when the Everett boy was bludgeoned and shot in the head and chest with a .45-caliber pistol, he was not responsible for the slaying. Instead, he blamed the killing on R.L. Remington, whom he identified as a man he met at a Louisiana race track.

"It wasn't me," he repeated in a recent death row interview. Prosecutors said Remington was a fabrication by Crawford, who previously worked as a Beaumont police officer and Jefferson County sheriff's deputy and once ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in the southeast Texas county.

The 12-year-old victim had been left home alone the evening of Sept. 12, 1995, while his parents attended an Amway meeting. Police believed Crawford lured the 7th-grader out of the house by telling him his parents had been injured. Authorities believed Crawford intended to use the ransom money to clear up some significant debts he was hiding from his family.