On the last day of July in 1999, 17-year-old Tracie Jean Hawlett and her best friend J.B. Beasley set out from Dothan, Alabama, to celebrate Beasley's birthday at a party. The night took a wrong turn when the two teenage girls became lost. Around 11:30 p.m., Tracie called her mother from a payphone at a gas station in Ozark, explaining they had lost their way but were getting directions and heading home. That was the last time her family ever heard from her. The two girls, both Caucasian, never made it back. A search was initiated after they failed to return, and the following day, on August 1st, their bodies were discovered in the trunk of Beasley's car on a street in Ozark. Both Tracie and J.B. had been shot in the head.
The initial investigation into the double homicide was extensive, with authorities conducting over 500 interviews and collecting DNA from more than 70 individuals. DNA evidence was recovered from Beasley's clothing, leading investigators to believe she had also been sexually assaulted. Despite having a DNA profile of the suspect, no matches were found in the national DNA database, and the case grew cold. For nearly two decades, the families of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley were left without answers, the identity of the person responsible for the brutal crime a complete mystery. The community was left shaken, and the case remained one of Alabama's most high-profile unsolved murders.
A significant breakthrough came almost 20 years later with advancements in forensic technology. In 2018, the Ozark Police Department enlisted the help of Parabon NanoLabs, a company specializing in genetic genealogy. By comparing the crime scene DNA to profiles in a public genealogy database, they were able to identify a potential suspect through familial DNA. This groundbreaking technique led them to Coley Lewis McCraney, a local truck driver and preacher with no prior criminal record, who lived just a mile from where the girls' bodies were found. In March 2019, McCraney was arrested and charged with the murders of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley.
During his trial, Coley McCraney testified that he had a consensual sexual encounter with Beasley but denied killing either of the girls. However, the DNA evidence was a cornerstone of the prosecution's case. In April 2023, a jury found McCraney guilty on multiple counts of capital murder. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. An appeal for a new trial was denied, and he is currently serving his sentence. The conviction finally brought a measure of justice to the families who had waited over two decades to see the man responsible for the deaths of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley held accountable.
