Raleigh man pleads guilty to killing girlfriend’s father on NC State campus

A 26-year-old Raleigh man pleaded guilty Monday to killing his girlfriend’s father on N.C. State’s campus about two years ago.

Theodore James Lee Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 61-year-old Quinten Crawford and will be be sentenced later this week .

Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory was initially set to hear pretrial motions in Lee’s pending first-degree murder trial, but he ended up overseeing a guilty plea after Lee had an extended meeting with his attorney, Anna Smith Felts, Monday morning.

Lee, who wore a jail jumpsuit with orange stripes, said little during the hearing other than to answer yes and no questions about the plea.

Assistant District Attorney Patrick Latour outlined evidence that indicated Lee killed Crawford on Main Campus Drive after Lee and Crawford’s daughter, who were dating, had yet another argument.

Crawford’s daughter called her father on the evening of June 10, 2020, and said the couple had fought, she had left the home and was walking through N.C. State’s Centennial campus.

“There had been a history between these two, including domestic violence where this defendant was violent, and the family was well versed in this issue and did not want that relationship to continue,” Latour said.

That history included Lee threatening violence and even death if the relationship ended, Latour said.

Crawford was so concerned that he bought a gun to protect his family from Lee, Latour said.

Crawford mentioned to his wife Lee’s threats when he went to pick up his daughter, the prosecutor said, and he took his gun with him.

Meanwhile, Lee had been texting Crawford’s daughter asking her to come back home, but she responded that her father was coming to get her and they could talk later.

Defense disputes domestic violence allegations

Witnesses described Lee driving recklessly around N.C. State’s campus, Latour said.

One witness described seeing Lee driving fast, making a U-turn and striking Crawford’s black SUV, Latour said. Lee then pulled alongside Crawford’s SUV and then in front of it.

Crawford’s daughter told police she was in the passenger seat with her father, but jumped out to unsuccessfully try to stop Lee from opening fire around 6:30 p.m.

A witness described Lee getting out of his car, retrieving a high-powered rifle and firing 14 or 15 times on the passenger side of Crawford’s SUV.

Felts, Lee’s attorney, argued that if the case had gone to trial, she would have argued Lee was defending himself after he saw Crawford holding a gun and Lee’s car was disabled after the collision.

Lee gave contradictory statements about his safety concerns, Latour said, which included Lee thinking he was going to get run over, knowing Crawford had a gun but not seeing it, and seeing Crawford’s gun.

Latour planned to argue that Lee was attempting a “kind of a spaghetti-at-the-wall style approach for self defense to justify firing into that car 15 times,” he said.

Felts said that she also planned to dispute the domestic violence accusations. There were investigations but no domestic violence charges, she said.

“We would say they were simply allegations,” she said.

Lee remained on the shooting scene until police arrived and has taken responsibility for the killing, his attorney said.

If Lee had been found guilty of first-degree murder, he would have been automatically sentenced to life in prison.

Second-degree murder is a class B1 felony. Convictions can bring sentences from 12 years to life in prison, depending on the circumstances of the crime and a defendant’s previous convictions.