Former NC pastor charged with murder of missing woman. Police say he’s killed before.
A former pastor already serving a life sentence for the murder of a Mecklenburg County man was charged this week in the killing of a 29-year-old Charlotte woman whose skeletal remains were found last year in the Lake Norman area.
The decomposed body of Anastasia “Star” Talisha Meaders was found in January 2019 in the woods off Bridgewater Lane, near a Food Lion off Interstate 77 Exit 33 in southern Iredell County, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time. In October, DNA extracted from one of Meaders’ teeth led to her identification, authorities have said.
Timothy Lavaun Crumitie, the 54-year-old former Concord pastor charged in Meaders’ death on Tuesday, was previously convicted for the attempted murder of Meaders’ mother, Kimberly Cherry, and the murder of Cherry’s boyfriend, Michael Gretsinger, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said in a news release.
Meaders was reported missing around the same time Crumitie tried to kill her mother and fatally shot Gretsinger, Campbell said.
In that case, police said Gretsinger and Cherry were attacked in an apartment in Charlotte’s University City in August 2016. Crumitie was convicted and sentenced in 2018. Cherry had previously been in a 12-year relationship with Crumitie, prosecutors said in court and The Charlotte Observer reported in 2018.
Iredell deputies on Tuesday served a murder warrant against Crumitie in connection with Meaders’ killing. According to the N.C. Department of Correction website, Crumitie is serving his life sentence in an undisclosed prison facility.
Crumitie met Meaders and her mother when he pastored a church in Concord, Campbell said. The sheriff did not identify the church. The Observer has previously reported Crumitie was a former pastor of A Place of Grace church in Kannapolis.
Crumitie previously served five years in jail on charges of murder in connection with the death of his business partner, Danny Daye Johnson in Mecklenburg County, Iredell authorities say. But that case was dismissed and Crumitie was not convicted.
In 2015, Crumitie was convicted of fraudulently burning a dwelling in connection with his Concord home burning to the ground two years earlier, Campbell said. He was also charged with insurance fraud related to the fire, according to police.
The investigation into Meaders’ disappearance and death is still ongoing, authorities said Thursday.
She was last seen on June 17, 2016, at a Charlotte beauty shop, according to the sheriff. Police found evidence and talked with people who believe Crumitie was the last person seen with Meaders, Campbell said.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 10:59 AM.