In the summer of 2023, a trip to a Family Dollar store in Troy, New York, ended in tragedy for Alexander H. Crawford, a 39-year-old male. On the evening of July 2nd, an altercation unfolded in front of the store located at the corner of 102nd Street and Second Avenue in the Lansingburgh neighborhood. During the dispute, Crawford was fatally shot. According to his obituary, he sustained the gunshot wound while protecting his son.
After being shot, Crawford managed to re-enter the store to report what had happened before being transported to Samaritan Hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The death of Alexander Crawford, a married father of five, marked the first homicide in the city of Troy for that year. An obituary described him as a man who deeply loved his family and had a passion for nature and music. It also noted that after a difficult period in his youth that resulted in a decade of incarceration, he had turned his life around.
In the weeks following the shooting, the Troy Police Department investigated the incident, following several active leads with the community's involvement. Their efforts led to the arrest of a 16-year-old male in an apartment in Rensselaer on August 16th. The teenager was arraigned in Troy City Court and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The Rensselaer County District Attorney's Office announced that the suspect would be prosecuted as an adult and he was remanded to a secure juvenile detention facility.
