Two more indicted after man was lured to Crawford home, shot in the neck during robbery

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Two suspects who police say lured a man to Crawford in an incident in which the man was shot in the back of the neck and robbed were indicted Thursday.

A McLennan County grand jury indicted Victoria Desha Williams, 24, of Waco, and Brian Matthew Cook, 37, of Crawford, each on one count of first-degree felony aggravated robbery.

A third defendant in the October 2022 robbery, James Ashful Bledsoe, 32, of Marlin, was indicted on an aggravated robbery charge in January.

According to arrest warrant affidavits, deputies were called to the 2600 block of Galaxy Road in Crawford on a report of a suspicious vehicle. While they were on their way, dispatchers were notified by OnStar that a man at the same location had been shot and needed help.

The victim reported he was temporarily paralyzed and played dead. He survived his injuries, officials said.

Deputies found Cook and Bledsoe there, and arrested Bledsoe on an outstanding warrant, the affidavit alleges. Deputies obtained a search warrant and found a video system that captured the incident.

Deputies allege Williams and the shooting victim were “hanging out.” He left about an hour later, but Williams reportedly texted him to come back to the home. While the victim and the woman were sitting in his car in the driveway, Bledsoe can be seen on video wearing dark clothing, and a mask, while holding an AR-style rifle, the affidavit alleges.

The victim told deputies the man opened the passenger door and pointed the rifle at him while he sat in the driver’s seat. He said he grabbed the barrel of the rifle and pushed it away from him. The rifle fired a round into the dash and the masked man, later identified as Bledsoe, told him to “strip and give him his stuff.”

The victim told deputies he realized the woman “set him up” to be robbed. The man said he complied with the man’s wishes and tried to leave in his vehicle, which apparently was damaged by the shot through the dashboard. He said the car would not go more than 5 mph, but he was able to drive it out of the gate before it died in the driveway.

The affidavit alleges that Bledsoe can be seen on video walking toward the car and firing a shot that struck the man in the back of the neck. Cook, who is identified as the owner of the home, Williams, and Bledsoe then moved the victim from the front seat to the back seat of the car, where Bledsoe is seen going through the man’s wallet and taking his cell phone.

Cook took the rifle into the house, while Williams can be seen using the sleeves of her shirt to wipe down the door handles and other parts of the car.

“When (the victim) was interviewed, he described the incident and stated he could hear two males talking and based off what they were saying believed they were going to drive his vehicle to an unknown location to leave him and the vehicle due to the males believing he was dead,” the affidavit alleges. “The vehicle was disabled due to the first gunshot and Bledsoe was unable to drive it.”

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