Barron Brantley: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Barron Brantley has been charged with the murder of 21-year-old Alexis Crawford, according to Fulton County court records. Jordyn Jones, 21, was Crawford’s college roommate and is also a suspect. Brantley, also 21, and Jones are in a romantic relationship.

The couple reportedly confessed their involvement in Crawford’s death to investigators. One of them led investigators to Crawford’s body on November 8, approximately a week after she went missing on October 30.

During a press conference on Friday, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said, “The case has come to one of the saddest conclusions possible and has been absolutely heartbreaking. And to Alexis’ family, our hearts go out to you. I am so truly sorry that we could not provide you with a better ending.”

A few days before Crawford went missing, she filed a report with Atlanta Police saying that Brantley had forcibly kissed and touched her. Per The New York Times, Crawford named Jones as a witness in this report. The young woman also went to the hospital to have a rape kit administered, per the publication, and several items from her apartment were taken as evidence.

On November 9, Brantley waived his first court appearance, per local news station 11Alive. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for November 22.

Here’s what you need to know about Barron Brantley:

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1. Crawford Reported Unwanted Kissing & Touching by Brantley on October 27

According to the press release following the discovery of Crawford’s body, Shields said Crawford had filed a police report on October 27th stating that Brantley had been kissing her and touching her against her will.

Per the police report as acquired by 11Alive, “the victim stated that the suspect rubbed his hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the neck. The victim stated that she asked the suspect what was he doing and he stated he thought she was Ms. Jones.”

Then, Crawford said she went to her bathroom alone, and couldn’t remember anything after that. Per the report, Jones said that “she started knocking on the door repeatedly. [Brantley] came to the door with his shirt off and stated to the witness that he had not had sex with the victim.” Crawford told police that she didn’t remember Brantley being in the bathroom with her before she blacked out.

Per police via 11Alive, Crawford had also told friends she “wasn’t comfortable sleeping in” her bedroom a few days before she went missing, and that an “incident” on October 26 had led to her sleeping in the living room of her apartment in the days following. Authorities did not provide further information regarding that incident in question, nor did they confirm whether it was connected to the police report Crawford filed a day later.

It’s not clear how long Jones and Brantley have been dating for. Brantley has not commented publicly on the accusations of unwanted touching.

Both Brantley and Jones “confessed,” per the press conference, and Jones was the one who led investigators to Crawford’s body. The young woman had been buried in a nearby park.

Earlier in the investigation, Jones had said she took her roommate to a liquor store on October 30 at around 11:30 in the evening. She also told police that she hadn’t found Crawford the next day in their apartment when she left for class, and that their front door was locked.

Police have since shared photos of the last time Crawford was seen in public, taken from surveillance footage at a liquor store.

Per The New York Times, Crawford’s report to police revealed that she and Jones weren’t speaking, due to an unspecified incident.

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2. Brantley Describes Himself as an Artist on Instagram

Brantley has two Instagram accounts, with the handles @badnewsbarron and @ohthatsbarron. On his primary account under the @badnewsbarron handle, his bio reads, “Im a Artist giving yall a head start & not looking for a hand out ?? Atl??”

Barron also linked to a YouTube video, purportedly of a performance by him. But the video has since been taken down. In other posts, though, he reiterates his desire to be known as a musical artist. 

Brantley’s Instagram account is relatively young. His first post went up in May. The caption for that post reads, “If you genuinely care about me and fwm ima ride , slide & die bout you right or wrong , if I’m dead don’t fwm if you wasn’t when I was ?️reathing?‼️”

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3. Brantley Has a Lengthy Criminal Record , & Has Been Charged With Robbery & Battery in the Past

Per Fulton County court records, Brantley has been arrested multiple times since 2015. He was arrested once for robbery, and has been arrest multiple times for family violence and cruelty to children.

Brantley has also been booked for traffic and speeding violations as well, and was charged in 2018 with fleeing or attempting to flee a police officer.

Brantley’s record reveals that he has used several aliases throughout his life, including “Brankley Barron,” “Renwick Brankley,” “Baron Brantley,” and “Baron Renwick.”

Brantley was arrested and booked on November 8, and charged with the murder of Crawford. He was also subsequently charged with multiple probation violations, for charges related to battery, cruelty to children, and theft by taking.

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4. The Cause of Death for Crawford Has Not Been Revealed

The cause of death for Crawford hasn’t been revealed, though officers have confirmed that they believe she was murdered.

Shortly following the announcement that Crawford’s body had been found, the president of Clark Atlanta University send out an email to the university community. President George French wrote in part, “Investigators say this was an isolated, off-campus incident and there was never a threat to any other members of the community.”

You can read the email in full here. 

Crawford’s family spoke to her last on October 30, though she wasn’t declared missing until November 1. Her mother described her daughter as “in good spirits and laughing” during their last phone call together, per 11Alive. 

Crawford’s mother told another local news network, WSBTV, that Crawford’s family knew something was wrong when they hadn’t heard from her in over a day, which was unlike her. She said, “Usually if we go a day without talking to her or something like that – she’ll call us and be like ‘Aw mom I was asleep. Mom I was studying, I was at work.’ But she hasn’t said anything yet.”

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5. Crawford Was Studying Justice & Criminology at Clark University

Prior to her death, Crawford was an undergraduate at Clark University, studying Social Justice and Criminology. Immediately following news of her body being found, people took to social media to mourn the loss.

One person tweeted, “This Alexis Crawford story got me sick. To think that days before she was murdered she was violated…f*cking disgusting.”

Another person tweeted, “I am praying for all of Alexis Crawford’s family, friends, my CAU family and AUC as a whole. This is scary. I work with these students everyday and I just can’t even imagine. This hurts. My students are shook by this. Please PLEASE love on your people a little bit harder today.”

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