Jury claims deadlock in Falls murder trial

Rick Pfeiffer -, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Sep. 29—LOCKPORT — A Niagara County Court jury said early Wednesday evening that it was "unable to come to a unanimous decision" in a Falls murder case.

The jury of nine women and five men, weighing a count of second-degree murder against Xavaier M. Crayton, wrote in a note, signed by the jury foreperson to Judge Caroline Wojtaszek, "We are unable to come to a unanimous decision. We really have tried."

The panel began deliberations at 2:45 p.m. and the note declaring the deadlock came just about four hours later. During its four hours of debate, the jury asked for two read-backs of witness testimony.

Both were from witnesses who described a confrontation between Crayton, 21, and Xavier Travis, 19, that took place around 10 p.m. by the intersection of 16th Street and Weston Avenue near Gluck Park on April 8, 2021.

Wojtaszek told the jurors that she appreciated their efforts to reach a verdict, but then read them what is known as an Allen Charge. An Allen Charge, which stems from the U.S. Supreme Court case Allen v United States, is a set of supplemental jury instructions that encourages deadlocked jurors to re-examine the grounds for their opinions and continue deliberations in an effort to reach a verdict.

The judge then recessed the trial, sending the jurors home and telling them they would resume deliberations at 10 a.m. today.

Crayton's trial began Monday morning, with final testimony and closing arguments wrapping up earlier Wednesday. Wednesday also saw a change in the jury as one juror was excused for a medical issue and was replaced by one of the two jury alternates who had heard the case.

While initial reports the night of Travis' murder linked his death to a fight over money during a dice game, prosecutors told the jury that he was killed in apparent retaliation for a "spitting incident." Crayton has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder charge he faces.

Assistant Niagara County District Attorney David DeChellis argued to the jury that Travis died because of "the choices that this defendant (Crayton) made."

"He chose violence over forgiveness," DeChellis said said. "Payback over peace because a woman spit in his face."

The assistant DA said Travis' older sister, Alexsandra "Nyda" Travis, had spit in Crayton's face earlier in the day on April 8, 2021, as she broke up a fight between her 16-year-old son and Crayton and some of his friends. DeChellis said the "senseless" murder occurred when Crayton returned to the scene of the earlier confrontation and demanded "a fight."

The prosecutor said Crayton even brought his sisters along to fight Travis' sister. But then Travis showed up at the scene.

DeChellis admitted, "We don't have traditional evidence. There is no weapon, no DNA, no cameras. But the only person who was close enough to have (stabbed Travis), was Xavaier Crayton."

Crayton's defense attorney TheArthur Duncan, throughout the two and a half day trial, hammered the lack of traditional evidence. Duncan declared, "There is no way, there no how, that Xavaier Crayton committed this crime."

The testimony read-backs on Wednesday focused on the two witnesses who appeared to be the best able to link Crayton to the crime. Christina Graham, one of Travis' sisters, had testified that she watched from the porch of her home as her brother and Crayton confronted each other.

Graham said she saw Crayton reach into a jacket pocket, then raise his right hand and strike her brother on his left side. Medical testimony showed that Travis died from a stab wound to his left side that punctured his heart.

But under cross-examination from Arthur, Graham testified that she never saw in a knife or other object in Crayton's right hand.

In the second-re-back, Jasmine SanClars, another of Travis's sisters, testified that she saw Crayton and her brother, "squared-off" and close to each other in the street. Then, under questioning by DeChellis, she testified that she saw her brother "lying in the street."

Falls Police patrol officers were dispatched to a call of a "disturbance" just after 10 p.m. on April 8, 2021. Officer Dominic Senese, the first officer on the scene, testified that he found Travis lying in the street near the intersection of 16th Street near Weston Avenue.

Senese said that Travis was bleeding and had "labored breathing" and had suffered an "injury to his left side." The officer said he tried to speak to Travis, but that he didn't answer his questions.

Niagara Falls firefighters and EMTs performed CPR on Travis before rushing him to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time after his arrival.

Crayton was taken into custody by members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Felony Fugitive Task Force at a home in Buffalo, almost two weeks after Travis was killed. Investigators said he had emerged early on in the investigation as the prime suspect and they believed that he had fled from the Falls immediately after the slaying.