Gunman sentenced to 6 years

Family members described Ronnie Davis Crawley as a good man who would do anything for someone in need. But alcohol apparently led to his undoing last May 8 when he approached a group of people outside a Charles City County house and opened fire with a .45 caliber handgun.

Now Crawley, 57, of 7620 Courthouse Road in Charles City, must serve the next six years in prison for maliciously wounding a former friend and using a firearm in commission of a felony. Judge Thomas B. Hoover imposed the sentence on Jan. 22 in Charles City Circuit Court.

“This is a real bad crime done by a guy who’d lived a pretty good life up until this time,” prosecutor Rob Tyler told the court.

The night of May 8, Crawley showed up at a home on Ruthville Road where a group of people had gathered. The group included Crawley’s estranged wife and Lorenzo Batts. Crawley believed Batts was having an affair with his wife, an allegation Batts denies.

The homeowner ordered Crawley to leave, but the defendant, who lives a short distance away, returned a short time later with the handgun. One bullet struck Batts, 48, in the torso. He has since recovered.

A second shot struck a nearby car as the homeowner tackled Crawley. A State Police trooper, who lived nearby and was attracted by the gunfire, took Crawley into custody.

“At one time they were friends,” defense attorney Katherine Giannasi told the court. “But due to circumstances that disturbed my client, they’re not friends now.”

Crawley told the court about his life, noting a steady job and good family relationships.

“I thought I was on top of the world,” he said, but added that everything came crashing down in July 2008 when his wife asked for a separation.

“At the time I won’t thinking,” he said about the night of the shooting. “I’m glad I didn’t kill him. I pray for forgiveness every night. I’m a nice person and I’d do anything for anybody. I accept full responsibility.”

“Even if this man is having an affair with your wife, you don’t have the right to shoot him,” Hoover told the defendant.

Crawley confessed to consuming a dozen beers and a half-pint of corn liquor in the time leading up to the shooting.

“So you were drunk?” Hoover questioned.

“Pretty much,” Crawley replied.

“Just pretty much?” the judge shot back.

“I knew what I was doing,” the defendant answered.

Crawley insisted Batts had threatened him with a shotgun, but that claim never surfaced at trial. Afterward, Tyler dismissed Crawley’s assertion, adding no shotgun was ever found.

“Clearly this is a premeditated crime and a violent gun crime,” Tyler told the court. “Mr. Crawley is not a career criminal, but clearly he believed something was going on between Mr. Batts and his wife.”

Giannasi told the court, “This is a crime of passion and alcohol fueled what happened. My client pulled himself up by his bootstraps, raised a family, and then two-and-a-half years ago, his life goes down the toilet.

“He is remorseful and sorry for what happened,” she said in asking the court to impose an active sentence close to three years.

Hoover, however, imposed a mandatory three years on the firearm charge and 20 years with all but three suspended for the next 20 years on the malicious wounding count.