STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A former pastor serving a life sentence for a 2016 murder has been charged in the death of a woman whose skeletal remains were discovered almost three years after she was reported missing, a North Carolina sheriff said.
Timothy Lavaun Crumitie, 54, was charged on Tuesday in the death of Anastasia Talisha Meaders, 29, Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said in a news release on Thursday. Deputies found Meaders’ remains scattered in a wooded area near a water tower and a grocery store at Lake Norman in southern Iredell County, Campbell said.
Meaders had been reported missing from Charlotte in August 2016, the sheriff said, adding that information provided by family members pointed to Crumitie as a suspect. Evidence and statements indicated Crumitie was the last person seen with Meaders, Campbell said.
Campbell said Crumitie was convicted of the attempted murder of Meaders’ mother, Kimberly Cherry, and the murder of Michael Gretsinger, who was identified as Cherry’s boyfriend, in 2016. Crumitie was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison.
Detectives determined that Crumitie was the pastor of a church in Concord, where he met Cherry and Meaders, according to Campbell.
Crumitie previously served five years in jail on a murder charge in the death of a business partner in 2005, Campbell said. Crumitie spent five years in jail before his case was dismissed.
This investigation into Meaders’ disappearance and death is still ongoing, authorities said in a news release on Thursday.
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