A Deadly Lie
Some lies can be deadly! One would hope that a lie would not come to such a horrible thing but it happens. This story is not one of encounters from my chronicles; however it is a true story. It made the local news and aired on Snapped in 2010. I wanted to share it because it definitely resonates with the essential theme of this blog. The sad truth is a beautiful person is gone to soon because of a lie so deadly.
Shannon Crawley found herself in a love triangle that went horribly wrong. It all started with a lie! Jermeir Stroud decided he would date two women at the same time. Neither of the women knew about each other. His longtime girlfriend Denita Smith was off to graduate school while Jemeir decided to date Shannon. They dated for about a year before Jemeir broke things off. Jemeir had recently proposed to Denita and of course he could not continue a relationship with Shannon. Now a lovestruck Shannon world is turned upside down. When she realized he was engaged to Denita, his girlfriend, she was devastated. Her devastation turned deadly because she SNAPPED!!!! She killed Denita Smith in a jealous rage.
Crawley convicted in killing, gets life – Durham County – NewsObserver.com. Click on this link to view the full story.
Here is the sad truth…………Jemeir set this in motion the day he decided to lie and pursue a relationship with Shannon. Now I am sure Jemeir didn’t think this would happen after having a relationship with two women at the same. Jemeir’s lie turned deadly and left many people hurt, angry, and confused. I’m sure his world hasn’t been the same since and it doesn’t help that his unspoken truth has now been publicized for the world to see. I can’t imagine what his life must be like now since his lie became deadly.
Shannon Crawley is not totally innocent in the story. It was very selfish of her to take someone’s life. She is not the first woman this has happened to and definitely won’t be the last. I’m sure she is thinking about that everyday now that she is in prison for life. She did her share of lying and scheming in her defense during the trial. It’s such a sad tragedy since her children will have to grow up without her.
I wonder what Denita must have thought the day her killer confronted her. She had no clue that her fiance‘ had been in another relationship prior to their engagement. She was very happy because she had so many things to look forward too and more sadly because she loved her man. Now the family and friends of Denita Smith are left to mourn her untimely death…………a senseless death. WHY??? A Deadly Lie
May her memory live on for those who loved her. RIP Denita
Respectfully,
Truthseeker411
Posted on July 12, 2011, in Love & Relationships, True Inspiration and tagged A Lie So Deadly, Denita Smith, Jermeir Stroud, Shannon Crawley, Snapped. Bookmark the permalink. 54 Comments.
True Essence 
Wow!! This is very sad. It looks like two women lost their life because of deception.
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I saw the episode on “snapped”. Unchecked anger and jealousy is a deadly combination.
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Yes it is! Sometimes flings aren’t harmless. Thank you for commenting!
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I just saw the repeat of this story on Snapped. How awful for the Smith family and friends. The inequity of this situation appauls me. This guy, still an officer, created this fury because of his selfish greed. This beautifull young woman is dead. The children of the convicted killer without a mother. It sucks. It is always good to consider the end of something. Say to yourself, “How will/might this end”, then choose your actions wisely.
M
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Very good insight M! Thank you for commenting!
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I watch the episode of Snapped over and over because I just cant wrap my mind around how terribly sad and tragic this was. I also wonder what is life been like for Jermeir sincw Denita’s murder. I wonder is he remorseful? Does he miss Denita? Did he mourn the loss of her? Is he married now?
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I wonder that also. I hope he is remorseful and has some type of feeling about the situation. He put Denita in danger when he decided to date someone else. You never know what people will do. One thing is for certain, he can’t ever get past it. Snapped airs that episode a lot. Thank you for commenting!!!
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Yes! They run it a lot! Do you know if he has married and moved on? I thought i might have read that somewhere. I also wonder how the family feels about him. Denita’s family that is.
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I’m not sure if he is. The last time I did a search on him nothing came up about him being married. It seems he is being very low key. He doesn’t have a facebook page or maybe he uses a different name. I’m sure that family loathes him.
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Yeah I’m sure they do.
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Hi thereTruthseeker. I found some additional info about Jermeir Stroud. Google “The College Park Police Dept. Welcomes 3 new recruits”. It appears that Jermeir lives in the Atlanta area now and is married and has a son. I guess life goes on……
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WOW!!!! Will you look at that! I guess life does go on. New job, new wife, new kid……All that after destroying lives. Thank you so much Yvette for sharing that information with me! I appreciate it. I might have to do an update to this blog post.
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Life does go on! Widows and widowers move on all the time. Why wouldnt he? Why is it wrong?
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You are welcome Truthseeker. I will let you know if I come up with anything else. FOR SOME REASON i am obsessed with this case!
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No matter how much he has moved on, I am sure that a day doesn’t go by where thoughts about what he did to Denita don’t haunt him.
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I know! When I first saw it on Snapped, I was intrigued. I guess because the three of them are in my age range. They are also educated. I kept thinking this could happen to anyone. I’m thinking about doing a post about another case that’s similar to this case. This female lived in my hometown. This case also aired on Snapped. Google Carla Hughes and check it out.
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Oh yes that’s my other fascinating case!!! That one and Nikki redmond and Adrienne Hickson. Go ahead and blog about Carla Hughes, so we can pick thatcase apart!!!
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Nikki Redmond is from my hometown of Savannah, Georgia. I don’t know the details of the case as well as Carla and Shannon’s.
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For some reason, out of all of these cases, the Denita Smith murder affects me the most. Not sure why, could be the same reasons you gave.
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The Elicia Hughes case is another one. I’m not sure I believe she was innocent. Do you?
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Yes! I am also wrapped up in these cases. I guess I am trying to figure out what was going throught their minds when they decided to murder these women over a guy. These women were educated, attractive, and had a lot going for them. They have so much in common with me and my circle of friends. I know people who have been in these situations but they never murdered anyone. These women and their cases really hit home with me. My best friend often says I should have been a psychiatrist or counselor. Maybe so! I know Elicia Hughes personally. I worked with her the summer her husband was murdered. I will never forget it. I’m not certain she did it but I think she might know who did. Her husband was a piece of work. He had a lot of women!!! He was always unfaithful but he didn’t deserve to die. I remember Nikki Redmond and Adrienne Hickman on Snapped.
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Wow! You know Elicia personally? I guess I think the same thoughts as you. Maybe because I am a social worker and we pick everything apart!
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Yes I know her. I haven’t seen her in years. I moved away a year after the murder of her husband but I kept up with the case through the news. You know girl we have to stay prayed up. Monique once said “We are all one choice from prison.” I thought that was very profound because many people don’t just walk around wanting to do harm or murder others. They just for some reason chose to use bad judgement or had a temporary mind lapse. As result, something bad happens and they have to pay for their crime. At the end of the day we all can’t say what we won’t do. Since learning about these cases, I continue to pray and ask God for good judgement. When I get too upset, I try to back away from the situation and say God help me.
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Amen sista! Lol! We must stay prayed up!
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You skanks are stupid for blaming him, y’all must be bitter cuz you were cheated on. Lol. It’s the crazy woman’s fault for killing her.. She can’t act like an adult and take a break up
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First of all Robyn let me say thank you for taking the time to comment. I welcome all comments. I am not biased at all. I love a great discussion or debate. We all have our opinions. Please refrain from the name calling. We don’t need to be disrespectful to get our point across. I hope that you come back and join us but be nice.
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There’s a better way to communicate your thought.
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The point simple is this: don’t play with people’s hearts because you never know. Love makes people do crazy things.
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Hello I know late in this post, but I recently saw this case on Snapped. I had to share my experience I had in a “Love Triangle” with a guy I was dating for a little over 2yrs. Thank God my story didn’t turn out like this case, but he carried on with a lie throughout our entire relationship. At the latter part of the relationship I discovered he was involve with a coworker also. She also had an abortion during the course of their relationship. She also had another relationship going on with a guy, she was engaged to & had children with. I discovered this one night she showed up unannouced and every lie he told both of us came to light! I broke it and never communicated with him again. Our story could have easily turn out this way and this case was defiently an eye opener! So sorry to hear how Stroud lies, ended the life of the Beautiful Smith. I hope men every where see’s this case and learns of it…
Marloe
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Thank you for reading and commenting! Yes you are right this happens a lot but murder doesn’t have to take place. Just walking away from it is the best choice. I’m glad you walked away. Love triangles have been happening for years. I don’t think it will ever change. I would hope because there are many who have lost their lives because of cheating and deception. This story could possible teach us something.
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Im glad your story didnt turn out like Denita’s. Such a tragedy…….
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Truthseeker, have you viewed the FB page for Denita. Its a group called “RIP Denita” and there are some nice pics on there to. Request to join the group and check it out, if you haven’t already. Even her mother posts on there from time to time.
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I will check it out! Thanks for sharing!
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No problem. You’re welcome Truthseeker.
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Yes, he lied and it was wrong, but there is no excuse for her actions. NONE. I have read a lot of articles about this case and it seems as if everyone wants to put the blame on him. Unfortunately, people cheat and lie every day, but it’s not everyday you find someone sick enough to commit a cold blooded murder like this. The responsibility is hers.
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Thank you for stopping by and commenting! You are right many people have written about this case but if you notice I didn’t just point the finger at him. I talked about both, mostly Shannon. My article also talks about the victim in a positive light. You should read it again.
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I just watched the Snapped episode of this case myself and for some odd reason found myself looking up Jermeir to see what ever happened to him. COINCIDENTLY I ran across an article posted last year stating that he was re-married, had a son, and a recent recruit of the College Park Police Department in College Park, Georgia. I find that incomprehensible as to how and why someone could move on so fast after losing their fiance?? Just seeing a picture of him is sickening because I agree with DeNita’s father, Jermeir should have done more to protect her, ESPECIALLY since he is a police officer. What I find even more disturbing is how in the world could College Park’s Police Department employ someone who was involved, whether directly or indirectly, in a murder? He might not have pulled the trigger but he damn sure caused the gun to be loaded.
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I don’t understand why we are all putting plane on this guy for what his crazy side piece did? I think we are being sexist here. Had this been a man stalking and killing a woman’s boyfriend/fiancé we’d be referring to her as a victim. This is the same mentally that played a role in some jurors feeling bad and not condemning Jodi Arias to death! Woman can be just as evil and stalkerish as men. We have all cheated and been cheated on. That doesn’t mean someone has to be punished for life for it. He was wrong but he was not responsible. I’m sure he is living with this everyday! He didn’t conspire he didn’t plan it.
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Your mode of telling the whole thing in this paragraph is genuinely good, every one be
capable of without difficulty be aware of it, Thanks a lot.
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You’re welcome! Thanks for reading and sharing!
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Hi Truthseeker! Happy New Year! I haven’t checked in for awhile… so I decided to stop by. Any other information about this case? I see that Victoria came across the same article about Jermeir that I did.
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Hello How are you? Happy New Year! I haven’t found any new information about this case. I can say that this post still remains one of my top posts. Everyone is so intrigued by this case. Thank you for stopping by.
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I just saw this episode on the ID channnel and wa also intrigued by the events of this case. I wonder if the family of the murdered woman would ever consider suing that police officer
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Thank you for reading! I’m not sure. I bet they have thought about it. It’s such a sad situation.
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I was in the same situation, the only difference is that I would never kill someone, the other woman is innocent, it’s the man that needs a bullet in his butt!! I was in a serious relationship for 5 yrs and this person told me & my family that he wanted to marry me. Labor Day weekend of of 2011 I found out that he got married July of 2010 & dated & lead me on the whole time! Ouch!! I didn’t want to kill him but I wanted him to hurt like I was, I did jump on him & kicked his A##!! LOL!! On a serious note this could have turned out like the Crawley case, thank god I love myself & didn’t snap, nothing is worth you spending the rest of your life in jail!!
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Lol! He needed his butt beat!! Seriously, I’m glad you didn’t snap either. No human being is worth going to jail over. I’m glad you read my post and gave feedback!
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I was a grad student at Central when she was murdered. Jermeir is pretty much persona non grata around there now. I’m sure that’s why he moved to GA. He did move on. From what I understand, he was already in another relationship within a year after Denita was murdered. He didn’t pull the trigger, but ultimately his behavior caused so much hurt and pain that I don’t know how he can live with himself. One thing I want to say bough is that he and Shannon ended their affair BECAUSE of the abortion. He didn’t want her to get rid of the baby.
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Thanks for sharing! This is definitely new insight. One thing for sure is that this is truly a sad, sad tragedy.
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i saw this on SNAPPED.and i was so sad this happened to her (DENITA) THIS reminds me of what happened to Avis Banks also on SNAPPED! IM like if mr stroud was engaged to ms smith why would he go there with another woman. SMDH.Ms Smith was a very pretty woman who was going places. so sad. no more comment from me!
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Ive watched this story on 2 different shows now and it has affected me profoundly. 1 because i ended up in a similar situation torn between 2 women only i didn’t persue 1 she simply would no go away. But i did sleep with both of them. But the real reason it affected me so deeply is because i saw shannons face in the courtroom at sentencing i think and it crushed my heart! The look of utter and TOTAL dispare broke my heart. I watch this type of tv fairly regularly but her story affected me completely differently than any b4 or sense.
Such a beautiful young MOTHER…..how could she allow such a thing to rob her AND her CHILDREN of the rest of their lives by such a foolish act. I PUT MYSELF IN HER SHOES…..BEING IMPRISONED FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE AND……….I …..CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS REAL. THAT SUCH A GORGEOUS GURL COULD HAVE ACTUALLY KILLED ANOTHER SWEET GURL OVER A MAN. SHANNON……WHY????WHY??? HOW COULD U ACTUALLY DO THIS THING????? I CANNOT WRAP MY MIND AROUND THIS.
AND FOR U MR STROUD…….U PIECE OF SHIT……..ULL GET URS IN TIME U FUCKING SHIT BAG. I HOPE U R PROUD OF URSELF!
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Are you sure you have the right info here? Not defending the guy but from what I know Shannon was well aware of his situation. I’m sure like loSt men he downplayed his relationship with Denita. Regardless Shannon was down to play a side piece. He like a lot of people cheated but it’s not his responsibility of Shannon was off her rocker! She went as far as to make up a rape. Claiming he did it and proved it wasn’t. Don’t get it twisted there are many crazy manipulative desperate woman out here. They are capable of doing lots of harm. I bet his life has changed and will probably never cheat again. Denita is the only victim here!
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Every time I watch the clips regarding this murderI can’t help but think how desperate can you be to murder someone over a man that doesn’t want you. I feel pity for Shannon. Ms Smith has risen above life’s trivial pursuits. Me Crawley lives her life in earthly hell. She will die in prison, still in denial that she is a murderer. Still trying to desperately keep her children and parents in the dark about the monsters that she truly is.
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He done this he was a dirty cop in Greensboro he covered it up real well though coming from someone that know him personally that’s why he moved away to Atlanta
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I agree with most you are saying, but one fact you have wrong. Actually Shannon DID know about Denita and was cool with playing the side chic role all the way until she snapped.I think someone should send her pics of Jermeir and his new wife. Shannon was nuts, I believe she changed her own voice on those tapes that she tried to frame him with. Another thing, everyone always describe these murderous women as beautiful. Shannon was an average looking woman, nothing special. Denita was way prettier. Shannon cared more about being with that man than her own kids….because look at her now, doing life in prison. If only she had let herself move on, she would have been over him by now most likely.
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