Three men have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the 2018 death of 20-year-old Robbie Crites, a Missouri man whose death was originally ruled an accidental drowning by local police. Ronald D Brawley III, Zachary D Watson, and Austin D Womack were each taken into custody on $250,000 cash-only bonds after charges were filed on March 5.

The former sheriff who oversaw the original investigation, Darrin Brawley, is distantly related to one of the accused. Shannon County Prosecuting Attorney William Seay confirmed to the Daily Mail that Darrin Brawley and Ronald D Brawley III are related and "appear to be friends on Facebook."

According to the Daily Mail, for eight years, Robbie Crites' mother, Angela Moyers, insisted her son did not simply walk into the Jacks Fork River and drown. The system told her otherwise. She was wrong, they said. The case was closed, they said.

She was right.

A Mother Ignored

Moyers told the Daily Mail she never believed the drowning ruling. She viewed photos showing bloody injuries on her son's body. She said she was told at the funeral home that the cuts were not consistent with a drowning. His death certificate read "accidental drowning, unknown."

When she brought her concerns to the then-sheriff, Darrin Brawley, she said she was treated like a nuisance. Moyers described the encounters plainly:

"I would take stuff in, and he would point at the door like I was a piece of crap. He'd say it was an open and shut investigation. [Robbie] walked in the river and he drowned. Well I know better."

She confronted him directly about what she saw as a failure of basic duty:

"I asked him 'how would he feel if the shoe was on the other foot? And I was a sheriff, and I did that to his son' and he said, 'I don't have any kids.'"

Moyers' assessment of the former sheriff's handling of the case was blunt: "I don't think he treated my son's case fairly at all."

What the Witnesses Said

The evidence that eventually cracked the case open didn't require sophisticated forensics. It required someone willing to listen to what people in the community already knew.

According to the probable cause affidavit and witness statements cited in reporting by the Daily Mail, multiple people heard the accused discuss the killing openly. Edward Steven Coleman Ferris told police that three weeks after the alleged killing, he asked Womack if he was one of the boys who killed Crites. The alleged reply, per the affidavit:

"Yeah, I killed that motherf***er. He owed me money for dope."

Ronald Brawley III's own cousin, Madelynne Prewett, told police that Brawley drunkenly confessed to the murder to her on June 18, 2018, just two days after the death. She said she was told Crites owed Womack and Brawley $100 for methamphetamine and never paid.

Witness Peyton Hammock told police that Womack "openly claimed he killed Crites for sexually assaulting his sister," and described Womack telling him he hit Crites with a fishing pole before punching and kicking him. Moyers maintains the sexual assault allegation against her son is false. Police have not disclosed further information on that claim.

James and Ryan Boyer provided a statement to police recounting what they heard Womack say:

"We heard A. Womack say, 'Darren Brawley (previous Shannon County Sheriff) is stupid for thinking Zack Watson and Ronnie Brawley did it when I killed Robbie.'"

The Boyers also told police that Womack described the killing in detail: "A. Womack said 'I confronted Robbie, beat and stabbed him with a fishing hook, then kicked him in the river.'"

A dark video featuring at least three voices, captured at what appears to be a bonfire, is also being treated as evidence in the case. In it, one unnamed speaker can be heard saying, "It's bulls*** that you f***ing killed somebody." Seay confirmed to the Daily Mail that the video is part of the investigation.

The Sheriff, the Suspect, and the Pickup Truck

The family connection between the former sheriff and one of the accused is troubling enough. But the procedural failures compound the picture.

Moyers alleged that former Sheriff Brawley placed her son's body in the back of a pickup truck and never informed the coroner. Seay confirmed to the Daily Mail that the pickup truck transport occurred and that it was "not standard protocol." He also confirmed that a coroner did not examine the body, though he noted a sheriff is authorized to handle remains if a coroner is not available.

Whether that authorization explains or merely excuses the decision is a question worth asking. A young man pulled from a river with fishing line wrapped around his ankles, knees, and back, as described in testimony from Moyers' other son, Jacob King, and his brother-in-law Quinton Southworth, deserved more than a ride in a truck bed and a closed file.

King also told police he saw Ronald Brawley III and Zachary Watson near the river when he went looking for his brother.

Darrin Brawley retired from the department in January 2024. After a new sheriff, identified only as Hogan, took over, the case was reopened. Seay told the Daily Mail that Hogan acted because he received "numerous" public concerns about the original investigation. The Shannon County Sheriff's Department stated that investigators reviewed the case and found "significant unanswered questions and inconsistencies."

A System That Worked Only When the Right Person Finally Sat in the Chair

This is not a story about one rogue sheriff. It is a story about what happens when a small community's institutions fail the people they are supposed to protect. Moyers spent years posting graphic images of her son's body online, trying to force the public to see what officials refused to examine. She did not have connections. She did not have leverage. She had photographs and the stubborn certainty of a mother who knew her son's injuries didn't match the story she was told.

It took a change of leadership, not a change of evidence, to move the case forward. The witnesses were always there. The confessions were apparently common knowledge. The community talked. The sheriff's office, under Darrin Brawley, chose not to listen.

Where It Stands

All three defendants face second-degree murder charges. Here is the current legal status:

• Ronald D Brawley III pleaded not guilty; last appeared in court on Tuesday for a counsel hearing status; has yet to obtain a lawyer according to Missouri court records.
• Zachary D Watson: pleaded not guilty; last appeared in court on Tuesday; also has yet to obtain a lawyer.
• Austin D Womack has yet to enter a plea; represented by attorney Lacon Marie Smith; last court date was Monday.

Moyers told the Daily Mail she did not know the three men charged, though she said Womack had been her daughter's roommate when they were teenagers. She acknowledged the weight of the moment, not just for her family, but for others caught in the fallout:

"It weighs on my heart for his kids, because it's innocent children."

But her purpose remains clear:

"I just wanna see that my son gets the justice that he deserves."

Eight years. That is how long Angela Moyers fought an institution that should have fought for her. She didn't need an investigation to tell her what happened to her son. She needed someone in power willing to do the job. When that person finally arrived, the case broke open in a matter of months. The evidence was never buried. It was just ignored.