Two suspects in Crocker case plead guilty
EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Two of the five defendants in the Crocker case have plead guilty to charges.
State prosecutors say Candice Crocker changed her plea from not guilty to guilty. She now faces life in prison without parole. We’re told she changed her plea in court last week.
Candice Crocker has also agreed to testify in whatever proceedings happen in the future.
Candice Crocker was charged with the deaths of two teenage siblings whose bodies were discovered in the backyard of an Effingham County home.
On Dec. 20, 2018 the bodies of Mary Crocker and Elywn Crocker Jr. were found in the backyard of their home in the Azalea Point subdivision.
Also charged, but not facing the death penalty in the case, is Roy Prater. According to the lead prosecutor, Prater plead guilty to his charges and agreed to testify in the trials of the remaining defendants.
Prater has not yet been sentenced.
There are five people charged in the case and three of them appeared in court for a status hearing Friday.
Elywn Crocker Sr, Kim Wright, and Mark Wright all appeared before the judge.
Mark Anthony Wright, Kim Wright and Elwyn Crocker Sr. face murder charges with a potential punishment of the death penalty.
Friday was the first appearance by all since February, and since courts state-wide were shut down due to COVID-19. Presiding Judge F. Gates Peed told each defendant separately the earliest trials could happen in Effingham County will be in January.
Each set of attorneys defending Kim Wright, Mark Anthony Wright and Elwyn Crocker Sr., respectively, agreed in court February 1 of next year will be when a first round of preliminary motions will be filed. No word on when a trial date could be set.
Right now, public defenders are going through the discovery process. That means they are looking at evidence handed over by the state.
The state is waiting on three more pieces of evidence undergoing DNA analysis right now.
“The only issue that’s outside the states immediate control is the evidence that’s been sent to Quantico, Virginia to the FBI crime lab for DNA analysis and other comparison analysis," said Assistant District Attorney Brian Deal.
Kim Wright, Mark Anthony Wright and Elwyn Crocker Sr. all entered not guilty pleas at their last appearance in February.
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