Mother of Pflugerville man killed in 2021 speaks out; 4 suspects arrested

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - Four people were arrested in connection with the deaths of two Pflugerville men in 2021, police said. 

The mother of one of the victims spoke out as the criminal cases work their way through the court system.

What happened?

The backstory:

Pflugerville police said the victims, Jerod Crespin, 39, and Elijah Stark, 18, were reported missing and were later found dead in 2021. 

The victims were found in Tennessee and Williamson County. 

After years of investigating, detectives found connections between four men and the two victims. The men were arrested and charged.

• Phillip Jones, 39, was arrested for murder (first-degree felony) and two Tampering/Fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse (second-degree felony) charges.
• Rico Huey, 39, was arrested for Murder (first-degree felony) and two Tampering/Fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse (second-degree felony) charges.
• Michael Leon Randle, 32, was arrested for Tampering/Fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, a (second-degree felony) charge.
• Jacob Stilwell, 28, was arrested for Tampering/Fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse, a (second-degree felony) charge.

Court records show Stilwell's murder charge was dismissed, and he was just prosecuted for tampering with evidence to impair a human corpse. He has already been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

What's next:

The cases for Jones, Huey, and Randle are still pending. Court records show they have upcoming hearings. 

FOX 7 has reached out to their attorneys for comment, and we haven't heard back.  

Elijah Stark's mother speaks out

Local perspective:

Stark's mother, Beth Clark, spoke to FOX 7 from West Virginia. She knew everyone in the house Stark moved into when he was 18. 

"He would have given you the shirt off of his back. He loved women. He was a protector. He wanted to protect everybody. He was a great kid. He had a good heart," she said.

She says he wanted to join the Army. 

"He had a big, bright future ahead of him, and it sucks that he's not here with us today. But he is in spirit, and I believe in my heart that he still is with me," Clark said. 

She describes a difficult time during the murder investigation that spanned years.

"I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. All I kept thinking about was the worst.  I'm his mother, so I felt him take his last breath, so I kind of knew that he was gone. Then I had a dream that he was gone as well, so I kind of already knew the worst was going to happen," she said. "That was an agonizing four years of not knowing what happened to my kid."

Part of the arrest affidavit reads: "Stilwell then told [someone he knew] that he choked Elijah until he stopped breathing at his house. Stilwell said he did it because of the people he owed money to."

Stark's body was found in a field in Taylor.

"Man, you took my heart from me. You took everything, like you could have taken me instead of him. He had such a bright future. I don't understand why you chose him," Clark said of her message to the suspects.  

While Clark says it's partly a relief that there were arrests, it's not over until there are convictions. 

"It's excruciating. I just want it to be over. I want my kid to be able to rest. I want it to be all over. I want them to get sentenced. I want them to have to deal with what they've done," she said.