***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2015

ELKHART JURY CONVICTS CROCKETT OF BATTERING GIRLFRIEND IN FRONT OF CHILDREN

Media Contact: Curtis T. Hill, Jr. (574) 296-1888

On Wednesday, July 1, 2015 a jury in Elkhart Superior Court 1 found Darius Crockett of Elkhart, guilty of Domestic Battery in the Presence of a Child, a Class D felony, and Theft, a Class D felony. On November 22, 2013 Darius Crockett was living at a residence with his girlfriend, Rashara Gray. According to testimony, Darius Crockett became irate when his girlfriend's five year old child would not let him fall asleep, continuing to touch the defendant. When Gray refused to discipline the child, the defendant began smacking Gray about the head and face, eventually entering a bathroom with Gray, holding a steak knife to her throat, and threatening to kill her. Gray was able to leave the bathroom, but was pushed by the defendant on the way out, falling on top of her other child, age one. The victim recalled that the defendant proceeded to pack a bag and run out of the residence, taking Gray’s cellular phone and the keys to the apartment, eventually forcing her to go to a shelter with her two children as she was fearful the defendant would return and be able to access the residence.

During the two-day trial the victim testified that, while the defendant was beating and threatening her, she was afraid he would kill her, and she did not know what would happen to her children. She also testified that she wanted her young sons, who both witnessed the incident, taught the difference between right and wrong and what the defendant did to her was wrong. The jury was also able to listen to the victim’s distraught 911 call, begging the dispatcher to tell the responding officer not to turn on any lights or sirens because she was afraid the defendant would know she had called police and “get” her and her children.

This case was tried by Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Kathleen Gring and Shelley Gupta in Elkhart Superior Court 1. Sentencing is scheduled for July 30, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”