It took more than two years for Clesslynn Crawford’s death at the hands of a Joplin police sniper to get the attention her family thought it deserved.
“A lot of the people in the community weren't aware of the story. And we told them, that's what we're trying to do, get the story out in the open,” said Clesslynn’s aunt, Tedra Nichols.
Nichols joined about 25 people at a march Saturday in downtown Joplin. They carried signs that read “Justice for Clesslynn” and wore T-shirts that said, “I won’t be quiet so you can be comfortable.”
A KCUR investigation into the killing revealed a number of mistakes by “Sniper 1” the night of March 26, 2022, in Baxter Springs, Kansas. The investigation could not, however, reveal his name. The sniper sued the city to redact his name from official reports — a decision KCUR is fighting in Jasper County Circuit Court.
The Joplin SWAT team was called to assist Kansas police in Baxter Springs after Clesslynn’s father, Eli Crawford, killed the little girl’s mother and then barricaded himself inside their camper, firing almost 100 rounds at law enforcement.
Police did not return fire because they knew Clessie — that is what her family called her — was in the camper.
However, Sniper 1 admitted to investigators that he fired at a silhouette, didn’t know where Clessie was when he fired and failed to use his night vision scope.
The story of Clessie’s death barely caused a ripple in Joplin before the KCUR investigation.
“As far as I know, no local news sources were covering it,” said Austin Hagston, who organized the march. “As a Joplin citizen, they tried to sweep the whole thing under the rug.”
Hagston, 25, said he had never protested anything in his life until he read about Clessie.
“I have an almost two-year-old daughter here," he said. "As a father and expectant father, I'm just terrified knowing that the officer is still out there, still on duty, somebody who is kind of a loose cannon."
Hagston wants Sniper 1’s name released. So does Miranda Murphy, also from Joplin.
“The fact that the officer has gone to this extent to cover his identity and not have his name released, still being on the police department, that the trauma of doing something like that is great enough to not be in that profession anymore,” she said.
Nichols said the family’s biggest goal is to get Sniper 1’s name published. “He needs to be held accountable for the actions he took,” she said.
No court order prevents the city from releasing the name, according to KCUR attorney Bernie Rhodes. The city did not immediately respond to an email asking why Sniper 1’s name remains a secret.
Clessie’s family settled a lawsuit against the City of Joplin and Cherokee County in November for $1.5 million. Joplin paid $1.4 million of that. Sniper 1 was dismissed as a defendant in August 2023.
Clessie's death flew under the radar for two years, but since KCUR’s investigation and the two-year anniversary, the case has been featured on a podcast called Aussie Overlaw’d, hosted by an Australian lawyer. It was also featured on a podcast hosted by psychologist Todd Grande, who has written a book on serial killers. The episode on Clessie has more than 84,000 views on Grande’s YouTube channel.
The story also has thousands of comments on a Joplin Reddit page. Barry Wingfield, who runs the page, was also at the downtown Joplin march.
“I look at things like this and I say, how can you be accountable if you're not being upfront? How can you be accountable if you're not being transparent?” he said.
This story comes from the Midwest Newsroom, an investigative journalism collaboration including IPR, KCUR 89.3, Nebraska Public Media News, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.
Do you have a tip or question for us? Email midwestnewsroom@kcur.org.
