Woman fatally stabbed, run over

D.A.: ‘ Disturbing’ Whitemarsh murder caught on video

NORRISTOWN » Calling it a “disturbing” killing that was captured on videotape, prosecutors alleged a Philadelphia man brutally stabbed a woman outside her Whitemarsh workplace and then drove his three-ton vehicle over her several times, crushing her.

“He attacks her while she’s in her car, breaks the window of the car. She runs. At that point in time, the defendant accosts her, he beats her, he throws her to the ground and he stabs her again and again,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said Friday as he detailed Lawrence Maurice Crawley’s alleged 2:27 a.m. violent attack of Angela Maya Stith outside Vector Security along the 5100 block of Campus Drive in Whitemarsh.

“And then, employees from the company ran out to aid the victim. They tried and they called 911. She was able to say words to them so she was still alive at this point. The defendant got in a Chevy Avalanche, a vehicle that is approximately three-tons, and he drove the car over top of her, again and again and again and he crushed her,” said Steele, who appeared noticeably upset as he discussed the alleged attack.

Authorities believe Stith was on a workplace break at the time Crawley showed up on a rear parking lot of the business. Steele said surveillance cameras in the

area captured the fatal attack on videotape.

“It is disturbing. It is disturbing. This was a terrible death,” Steele said at a news conference, his voice trailing at times.

Investigators are still working out the details but Steele added “there was a relationship” between Crawley and Stith. Court documents indicate Stith listed Crawley as her emergency contact during her employment at Vector Security

“It appears they may have been broken up at this time but they had been off and on together,” Steele alleged.

Crawley, 33, of the 800 block of North 13th Street, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder and possessing instruments of crime in connection with the fatal attack of Stith, also 33 and of Philadelphia. An autopsy on Friday determined Stith died from combined blunt and sharp force injuries.

“He stabbed her to the point where the blade of the knife was in her back during the autopsy,” said Steele, referring to the brutality of the alleged attack.

Authorities alleged Crawley fled the scene in the blue Chevrolet Avalanche SUV and was spotted several hours later by state police traveling on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset County. As troopers approached the vehicle, Crawley set himself on fire inside the vehicle, according to court documents.

Crawley survived and was transported to a hospital in western Pennsylvania where he was listed in critical but stable condition, according to officials. While a criminal complaint was filed against Crawley, he will be formally arraigned on the charges at a later time depending on his medical condition.

“When we are able we will get him back into our jurisdiction and we will prosecute him on these charges,” Steele explained.

Whitemarsh Police Chief Christopher P. Ward said the last murder in the township occurred 17 years ago.

“It’s very unusual for us. It’s a quiet community. This occurred in an industrial office area, not a residential area,” Ward said.

An investigation began about 2:27 a.m. when Whitemarsh police responded to Vector Security for a reported stabbing and found Stith’s body in the rear parking lot of the business.

Video surveillance showed Stith exiting a rear door at Vector Security about 2:13 a.m. and walking to her Toyota sedan.

“The victim is then observed running from her vehicle while being chased by a male suspect,” Whitemarsh Detective Stephen Kerns and county Detective William Mitchell alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding Crawley is observed attacking the woman with a stabbing motion.

The video surveillance showed several of Stith’s coworkers appear on the parking lot and attempt to render aid to her as she lay injured on the ground, court papers indicate.

“A Chevrolet Avalanche SUV is then observed driving over the area of the victim on three occasions while the vehicle circled the parking lot,” detectives alleged, adding coworkers witnessed the attack.

Investigators said they found the driver’s side window of Stith’s sedan had been smashed.

“Scene evidence inside the Toyota indicates the victim was initially attacked inside the driver side of the car and escaped through the passenger door. Detectives also located a single knife, a knife handle and hammer at the scene,” detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Crawley, according to court documents, spoke by cellphone with a woman after the alleged attack and stated, “I stabbed her and then I ran over her with the truck. I am going to kill myself.” Crawley allegedly told the woman that “voices in his head made him do it,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Crawley later called his mother at 2:31 a.m. and told her, “Mom, I’m sorry I killed her,” according to the arrest affidavit.

The investigation revealed that on May 23 Crawley was arrested by state police in Montour County following an assault of Stith during which she was strangled, according to the arrest affidavit. On July 18, Crawley pleaded guilty to a charge of simple assault, court papers alleged.

“It is disturbing. It is disturbing. This was a terrible death.” _Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele