Crockett Couple Arrested for Aggravated Kidnapping

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – A 25-year-old Houston County man and his 18-year-old girlfriend were recently arrested and charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping after the couple along with a third individual allegedly abducted a male subject from a travel trailer and threatened to kill him.

Lazarus Abesol Crockett was arrested on Dec. 2 while his girlfriend, Charity Cecil, was arrested on Dec. 3. The status of the third suspect, identified as Perry Holmes, is unknown at this time.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, deputies with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) were dispatched to 321 County Road 4530 on Nov. 30 “… in reference to a kidnapping that occurred approximately one week prior.”

When the HCSO deputies arrived at the location they were met by the complainant who informed the deputies approximately eight days earlier, Crockett and Holmes had entered a travel trailer where he

was sleeping, shined a flashlight in his face and ordered him to get on the floor.

“(The complainant) said that he complied and Holmes and Crockett tied him up and carried him into the woods behind the trailer,” the affidavit reported.

The probable cause document indicated Cecil was Crockett’s girlfriend and held the flashlight for Crockett and Holmes while they carried the complainant into the wooded area.

According to the report, “The complainant said that Holmes then told him that they were going to get a knife and cut him up so that nobody would find him.”

The trio departed the area and left the complainant tied up, but returned approximately 30 minutes later and untied him, according to the affidavit.

Once they had untied him, the complainant stated the three suspects began laughing and “… and acting as if they were joking, but believed (the complainant) to be a snitch and that if he ever did it again, they would kill him.”

The complainant advised the deputies “… he was afraid to file a report due to what harm might further be done to him. (The complainant) said the suspects told him that if he reported the incident that they would kill him,” according to the affidavit.

The reason believed to be behind the kidnapping, the affidavit indicated, was the complainant had informed the owner of the land where the travel trailer was located that two of the suspects had possibly left a stolen vehicle on the same acreage.  After he received the information, the landowner called Holmes and confronted him about the vehicle.

Following their apprehension, Cecil and Crockett were booked into the Houston County jail and charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping, a first degree felony.

According to Section 12.31 of the Texas Penal Code, “An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the first degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than five years. In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the first degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

Both Cecil and Crockett remain in the Houston County Jail on separate bonds of $30,000.

Will Johnson may be reached via email at [email protected].