Two charged in Marine’s death

The victim was on leave from Iraq when he was crippled by a gunshot that killed him.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Two men arrested in the curbside killing of a Marine who was robbed of $8 while on leave from Iraq were indicted Thursday on aggravated murder charges and could face the death penalty if convicted.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Ean Farrow, 19, and Thomas Ray III, 20, both of Cleveland, on aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, felonious assault and aggravated robbery charges in the Jan. 5 shooting of 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Robert Crutchfield.

The victim was crippled by a gunshot while waiting for a bus in Cleveland and died of a related infection on May 18.

“It’s sickening and appalling that this Marine, who put his life on the line fighting for our country, comes home only to face a deadlier enemy on our streets — a couple of thugs who have no regard for human life,” Prosecutor Bill Mason said.

Attorneys listed in court records for the defendants could not be reached for comment. Messages seeking comment were left at their offices after regular business hours, and calls made to the home addresses listed for both defendants were not returned.

Police tied the suspects to Crutchfield’s shooting while investigating the robbery of two people on the following morning across the street from the scene of the attack.

Crutchfield, warned by commanders that he could be a robbery target as a Marine on leave with a pocketful of money, was carrying only $8, his military identification and a bank card.

“They took it, turned his pockets inside out, took what he had and told him since he was a Marine and didn’t have any money he didn’t deserve to live,” his aunt, Albert Holt, told The Associated Press last month. “They put the gun to his neck and shot him.”

Holt described her nephew as a well-behaved, churchgoing individual who had enrolled in a suburban high school to escape his unruly Cleveland school and prepare for a career as an architect.

Mason’s office received more than 60 e-mails and letters from across the country, almost all asking him to seek the death penalty.

The death penalty specifications in the indictment were based on the evidence in the case and grand jurors were unaware of the outpouring of support for executing the suspects, Mason’s staff said.