Eric Ashly Stansbury, a 61-year-old Caucasian male from Vidor, Texas, was found deceased on October 25, 2016, in Abbeville, Louisiana. A pipefitter by trade, Stansbury had left for his job in Beaumont, Texas, in the early morning hours but never arrived. His body was later discovered in his blue Ford F-250 truck in a vacant lot in Abbeville. An autopsy revealed he had been shot multiple times.
The investigation into his death uncovered a sequence of events that began in Texas.
Authorities believe that on his way to work, Stansbury encountered at least two individuals who had run out of gas along Interstate 10 in Vidor. It is thought that an altercation occurred at this location, as one of Stansbury's work boots and his cowboy hat were found there. Investigators suspect he was then taken against his will in his own truck.
Three individuals from Abbeville, Louisiana, were identified as persons of interest in the case: brothers Robert Crooms Jr. and Kenton Crooms, and a 19-year-old woman, Amber L. Lee. Law enforcement officials believed the suspects were in a gray 2016 Dodge pickup truck that was seen following Stansbury's vehicle.
In January 2017, Robert Crooms Jr. was apprehended in an abandoned residence in Abbeville. He was initially arrested on multiple charges, including illegal possession of stolen items and various drug and firearm offenses. Subsequently, both Robert and Kenton Crooms were indicted in Louisiana in connection with Stansbury's death. Robert Crooms Jr. was charged with first-degree murder, and Kenton Crooms was charged as a principal to first-degree murder.
However, the legal proceedings in Louisiana took a significant turn. The defense for the Crooms brothers filed a motion to quash the indictment, arguing that the crime originated in Texas and therefore, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, was not the proper venue for the trial. In March 2022, a judge granted this motion, a decision that was later upheld by an appellate court. The courts determined that the fatal gunshots likely occurred in Texas, and as a result, Louisiana did not have jurisdiction to prosecute the murder charges. Following this ruling, the trail of publicly available information regarding any subsequent prosecution in Texas for the murder of Eric Stansbury grows cold, leaving the final legal resolution of the case unclear.
