MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police say a woman was killed in a hit-and-run after her husband knocked her out during an argument and left her in the middle of an Orange Mound street.
Johnny Crawford, 48, is charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Laura Turner-Burton, 59, is facing charges for leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
Lamarcus Mason witnessed the aftermath of what he describes as chaos, after investigators say Crawford punched his wife, Jasmine Robinson, and left her unconscious in the street near Park Avenue and Airways Boulevard just before 2 a.m. Sunday, where she was run over and killed.
“It was, like, hectic. Cops up here, cops everywhere,” Mason said. “They had the street blocked off. I was wondering what was going on. I didn’t know.”
Court records show Robinson called police around 1:30 a.m., saying her husband had been beating her up for two days. But even though she gave them their address on Grand Street, officers didn’t show up. Police say Robinson hung up before they could get more details.
Officers traced the call to Park and Airways, around the corner from the couple’s home, but according to the arrest affidavit, it wasn’t until they got another call less than 10 minutes later that officers responded.
By then, Robinson was dead.
A witness told police she saw Crawford chase his wife down park, punch her in the back of the head, then leave her unconscious in the street.
About a minute later, investigators say Turner-Burton ran Robinson over, dragging her several feet down Park before driving off.
“That was tragic. That was a very tragic thing to happen, and I pray for each and every one of them,” Bernita Jordan said. “We’re gonna have to do better.”
“Where’s the love and compassion? Just accept what you did. Don’t leave,” Mason said.
Police somehow tracked down Turner-Burton an hour later at a home in Grahamwood. They say her car was leaking fluid and she told them she thought she had hit a bag in the road.
Officers arrested Crawford at his home, where Robinson had initially asked them to respond.
“Get ’em some help. They need help,” Jordan said. “We as a people need help. We need counseling. We need to get to the root of what is going on in the world today, and that’s the only way we are going to survive this. God first.”
Both Crawford and Turner-Burton will be in court Monday morning.
