Crawford gets life for ending daughter's

KITTANNING -- An Armstrong County woman faces life in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder for the starving death of her 4-year-old daughter.

Janet Crawford, 36, of Kepple Hill, Parks Township, was sentenced to life in prison without parole yesterday by Judge Kenneth Valasek for her part in the death of her daughter, Kristen Tatar, whose body was found in a cooler behind her family's home on Aug. 7, 2003.

Valasek told Crawford that the starving death was "one of the most heinous crimes committed in the 300-plus years of this Commonwealth."

The judge had ruled on what degree of homicide Crawford was guilty of on Oct. 15, but sealed the verdict until after the trial of Kristen's father, James Tatar. Tatar was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison as well.

"I was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that you had specific intent to kill your daughter Kristen," Valasek told Crawford during sentencing.

Crawford's attorney, Preston Younkins, said the judge had to find "specific intent" to convict Crawford of first-degree murder; otherwise, she would have been found guilty of third-degree murder.

"Obviously, both Janet and I are disappointed in the verdict," he said. "I expect we'll start the process of filing our post-sentence motions within the next couple of days."

"The issue boils down to whether or not there's sufficient evidence to prove a specific intent," Younkins added.

He said Crawford has said that she misses her daughter, but takes responsibility for her role in the child's death.

"She's acknowledged through the plea process that she has some culpability in all of this," Younkins said, "but the question of who is more or less guilty or responsible for this, I'm not sure that anybody can determine that."

Assistant District Attorney Chase McClister, prosecutor in both Crawford and Tatar's case, said he felt the convictions were appropriate.

"It's definitely satisfying," he said. "We've maintained all along that both of them were guilty of first-degree murder."

Crawford was not facing the death penalty in the case because the district attorney's office agreed not to seek it against her in exchange for her testimony against Tatar. The jury at Tatar's trial could not reach a unanimous verdict on his sentence, leaving Valasek to impose a mandatory life sentence.

Tatar's attorneys said last week that Tatar will appeal his case as well.

McClister said he doesn't believe either Crawford or Tatar has valid reasons for appeal and that they'll ultimately end up serving the sentences imposed by Valasek.

"They'll be sitting in prison for many, many years to come," he said.

Crawford also had pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and endangering the welfare of child. Valasek sentenced her to seven to 14 years on those charges.

Armstrong County Sheriff's deputies escort Janet Crawford, 36, of Parks Township, back to the Armstrong County Jail after Crawford was sentenced to life in prison for her role in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, Kristen Tatar.