Family still seeks justice nearly 30 years after murder

Aug. 17—ASHBURN — A young woman was murdered in Turner County in the 1980s, and her killer has yet to be brought to justice.

Crystal Richardson — her tombstone identifies her as Crystal C. Martin — was found dead in the Sugar Hill neighborhood. She was stabbed, and her body was found on Josella Road. Some 12 years later, charges were filed against three men. One was brought to trial, twice. Both trials ended in hung juries.

In 2003, Richardson's sister, Tracey Laster, wrote a book about the matter. Now a documentary, "Justice for Crystal," is set to air on Amazon Prime later this month. It is already on several streaming services. An Atlanta movie production team is reviewing the documentary for a possible film.

While the increased attention is a good thing, Laster said all she wants, all the family wants, and all her late sister deserves and wants, is justice.

"I want them (everyone) to know her family wants justice," Laster said "We deserve justice. She definitely deserves justice. The documentary talks about a lot of things people don't know. Watch the documentary and get educated."

Laster said she hopes the increased attention will convince someone to come forward and speak out.

"I was told if we come up with something new, this case can be re-opened," she said. "I am willing to go so far as to have my sister's body exhumed. I am sure they will find something."

Richardson's body was laid to rest in Westview Cemetery.

"We are also looking at a private investigator to possibly open the case back up," Al Wynn, a publicist working with Laster, said.

"If we can get new evidence to come forth, I think it (a new trial) can happen," Laster said. "There is a murdered person. No one was sentenced for it. I want the truth to come out."

"She wants Crystal to be known as the person that she was," Wynn added. "She didn't deserve to be murdered. Most of all, Crystal deserves for her killers to be brought to justice. No one is being punished, and that is the travesty."

Laster said she was "not up to" attending the trials but was told the district attorney at the time did not do much to push for a conviction.

"I want people to know the whole thing was mishandled from the start," she said. "I didn't attend the trials. The ones who did said it was a show. The DA didn't fight like he should have. Justice wasn't served, and I want justice for my sister. That is what the documentary is all about."

Laster said she was told some of the witnesses were intimidated, and death threats were sent in the time leading up to the trial.

"There was a lot of intimidation that suppressed witnesses," Wynn said. "We plan to take this thing to the full extent."

Laster has not contacted any of the people who are potential witnesses to see if they will testify. She said someone else is working on that. As to the intimidation that was alleged in 1995, she said that likely won't happen today.

"Since 1995, that is 27 years, things have changed since then," she said. "Witnesses I know from that night came to our house that night to tell us about a dead body on Sugar Hill, but they did not say it was our sister. Rumor has it they were threatened."

After the first trial ended in a hung jury, some people took to the streets and trashed some structures on the west side of town. The second trial saw an increased law enforcement presence in town, and things were much quieter.

"That is not what I am for," Laster said. "I am a Christian. I want this done the correct way. I want non-violence and standing on the truth of what really happened. I want the truth to come out."

Laster's book is her account of the turmoil and the healing she went through after her sister's death and the resulting trial.

"The book is my testimony and the healing process I went through," she said. "This book is my testimony. I am speaking on behalf of my family. Nobody has heard from our family. The book is the family's side of the story, what we experienced, what we went through and how it affected our lives. ... It was devastating when this happened."

When she died, Richardson had two small children. Raising them fell to her mother and her siblings. Richardson was one of six children.

"Me, being 15 years old, I had to help raise them," Laster said. "It affected all six of our lives. The six of us remaining, it tore our lives apart."

With that in mind, Laster calls the documentary bittersweet.

"The documentary was released in one week, and the next week, we lost our mom," she said.

While the book does not identify the three men charged in the '90s, the documentary does. Laster said the documentary producers relied on court transcripts and other public records to get that information.

Laster urges anyone who might know something about this murder case to contact the Turner County Sheriff's Office or the Ashburn Police Department. She said people can also reach out to her on her Facebook page.