Little did Angela Moyers know that when she waved her son off on a solo fishing trip eight years ago, he would never make it home.
Police told Moyers that her son Robbie Crites, 20, had drowned in a terrible accident on June 16, 2018, in the Jacks Fork River in Missouri, but Moyers never believed that.
She told the Daily Mail that her son was afraid of drowning and would even ask her to sit on the toilet while he showered due to his fear.
‘I know he didn’t walk into the river and just drown,’ Moyers said.
Moyers said a number of things did not add up in the case and she became more alarmed after viewing harrowing photos of her son’s body which showed bloody injuries to his face.
She accused former Shannon County Sheriff Darrin Brawley of brushing her off when she attempted to raise concerns but police ruled it a drowning.
‘I would take stuff in, and he would point at the door like I was a piece of crap. He’d say it was an open and shut investigation. [Robbie] walked in the river and he drowned. Well I know better,’ Moyers said. ‘I don’t think he treated my son’s case fairly at all.’
Now, after a bombshell confession came to light, the case was reopened under a new sheriff, and three men have been arrested and charged with murder, and the former sheriff’s link to one of the suspects has been revealed.
Shannon County Prosecuting Attorney William Seay has confirmed to the Daily Mail that former sheriff Darrin Brawley is distantly related to one of the arrested men, Ronald D Brawley III. The two also appear to be friends on Facebook.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Darrin Brawley, who retired from the department in January 2024, and his representation for comment.
On March 5, Ronald D Brawley III was charged with murder in the second degree for Crites’ death alongside Zachary D Watson and Austin D Womack. All three men were taken into custody on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
Brawley III and Watson have pleaded not guilty. The two have yet to obtain a lawyer, according to Missouri court records.
Womack has yet to enter a plea. He is being represented by Lacon Marie Smith. The Daily Mail has reached out to his representation for comment.
Seay told the Daily Mail that Hogan decided to reopen the case because he received ‘numerous’ public concerns.
The Shannon County Sheriff’s Department said investigators reviewed the original investigation and found ‘significant unanswered questions and inconsistencies.’
The three men have been accused of physically assaulting Crites, wrapping him in fishing line, and dumping him in the river, which eventually led to his drowning, according to a criminal complaint viewed by the Daily Mail.
A probable cause affidavit for arrest noted witness statements alleging that the men had previously bragged about killing Crites.
Moyers’ son, Jacob King, told police that he saw Ronald Brawley III and Zachary Watson when he was looking for Crites near the river, according to his witness statement.
King also testified that his brother-in-law, Quinton Southworth, found Crites’ body floating in the river with fishing line wrapped around his ankles, knees, and back.
Another witness, Edward Steven Coleman Ferris, told police that three weeks after the alleged killing, he asked Womack if he was ‘one of the boys who killed Crites.’
‘Yeah, I killed that motherf***er. He owed me money for dope,’ Womack allegedly replied, according to the affidavit.
On a separate occasion, Womack allegedly told a group of people during a bonfire that he killed Crites for allegedly assaulting his sister, according to a witness statement included in the arrest affidavit.
Peyton Hammock told police that Womack ‘openly claimed he killed Crites for sexually assaulting his sister.’
Hammock said that Womack told him he hit Crites with a fishing pole before punching and kicking him.
Womack then allegedly admitted to stabbing Crites with a hook and ripping it across his torso.
Crites then allegedly had a seizure and Womack kicked Crites in the water, according to Hammock’s testimony. Three other witnesses told police a similar recounting of what occurred at the bonfire.
Moyers shared a video that appeared to depict the bonfire incident. The video was dark, so the men’s faces were not visible, but at least three voices can be heard screaming.
‘It’s bulls*** that he tried raping a f***ing innocent girl,’ one man said.
‘It’s bulls*** that you f***ing killed somebody,’ another replied.
The two men continued to hurl threats while a man appearing to take the video attempted to de-escalate the situation.
Prosecuting Attorney Seay confirmed that the video is being treated as evidence in the case.
Moyers has maintained that allegations of sexual assault against her son are false. Police have not disclosed information on that topic.
Ronald Brawley III’s cousin, Madelynne Prewett, told police that he had drunkenly confessed to the murder to her on June 18, 2018.
Prewett said she was told that Crites owed Womack and Brawley $100 for methamphetamine and never paid them, according to her witness statement.
James and Ryan Boyer, two individuals who were also allegedly at the bonfire, told police: ‘We heard A. Womack say, “Darren Brawley (previous Shannon County Sheriff) is stupid for thinking Zack Watson and Ronnie Brawley did it when I killed Robbie.”
‘A. Womack said “I confronted Robbie, beat and stabbed him with a fishing hook, then kicked him in the river,’” according to a witness statement.
Moyers told the Daily Mail that she did not know the three men charged with her son’s murder.
However, she said that Womack was her daughter’s roommate when they were teenagers.
She was unaware of any issues between her son and the three men, but noted that Crites disliked Womack because of a dispute that arose when he lived with her daughter.
Moyers said she had felt a wave of emotions when the three men were arrested.
The last eight years have marked a tiresome fight in her son’s case. She recalled her suspicions as soon as she was told he was dead.
Moyers said Sheriff Brawley had placed Crites’ body in the back of a pickup truck after he was found in the river and never informed the coroner.
‘I asked him “how would he feel if the shoe was on the other foot? And I was a sheriff, and I did that to his son” and he said, “I don’t have any kids,”‘ Moyers told the Daily Mail.
Prosecuting Attorney William Seay confirmed ex Sheriff Brawley did use a pickup truck to transport Crites’ body, and that was not standard protocol.
Moyers also said ex Sheriff Brawley did not contact the coroner. Seay confirmed a coroner did not examine the body to determine a cause of death.
The prosecuting attorney explained that it was not standard protocol, but that a sheriff is authorized if a coroner is not available.
Moyers said her son’s death certificate read ‘accidental drowning, unknown.’ She added that she was told at the funeral home that the cuts on her son’s face were not consistent with a drowning.
Graphic images Moyers shared of her son’s body depict gashes across his face. She said that she decided to post them online two years after her son’s death because she wanted people to see what happened to him. The graphic images can be viewed here.
She recalled multiple times that she brought her concerns about the investigation to the police, but was dismissed.
‘I just wanna see that my son gets the justice that he deserves,’ Moyers said.
The grieving mother added that she understands it has been years since the incident, and that the suspects may have changed, noting that one of the men accused is now a father.
‘It weighs on my heart for his kids, because it’s innocent children’ she said.
‘But then again, I live every day without my son. Wondering who he would’ve been, how many kids he would’ve had if he would’ve been married, what his life would’ve been like.’
Moyers described her son as an ‘adventurer’ who loved to hunt and fish. She said he was ‘caring’ and ‘vibrant.’
Ronald Brawley III and Watson last appeared in court for a counsel hearing status on Tuesday. Womack’s last court date was on Monday.
Orginally published with The Daily Mail on March 14, 2026
Read originally published article here
Leave a Reply