Virginia mother accused of killing husband released from jail, reunites with family

A woman accused of killing her estranged husband reunited with her family after four months in jail.

LaToya Crabbe has been in jail in Prince William County on a murder charge since October. Released on bond Friday, she walked straight into the arms of her mother. The tears started before the hug.

“I saw her to the side and immediately started crying,” Crabbe said. “I could not stop myself, started crying. I was so happy to see her.”

Then at home, more embraces with her three children ages 5, 4 and 2. 

 “At first, they were kind of speechless for a second, but then, ‘I missed you,’ and they were wondering why I’d been gone so long,” Crabbe said.

Police arrested Crabbe Oct. 21. Manassas police say she shot her estranged husband multiple times in the couple’s bedroom.

Crabbe’s defense attorneys say the fatal gunfire came just days after Curtis Crabbe allegedly sent threatening text messages, one reading, “I’m not playing around. I will hurt everyone in that house, then set it on fire.”

Crabbe says she acted in self-defense. Her attorneys say her husband Curtis cornered her holding a knife.

In jail, initially in solitary confinement, Crabbe says she felt hopeless. 

“Honestly, there was a point where I almost thought I should have just let him kill me,” she said.

She says once she could start reconnecting with family and friends through calls, letters and video visits, she resolved to be with her kids again.

“Everybody who knew me and automatically believed that I wouldn’t have ever done anything except for in self-defense, it changed my hopefulness and mentality about the situation,” she said. “That I’m very grateful I’m still alive, that all my family members are still alive.”

Crabbe is due back in court Thursday, when prosecutors plan to dismiss the second-degree murder charge she faces. But they said they are planning to take their evidence to a grand jury next month and seek a first-degree murder charge instead.

Prosecutors say they recently received evidence showing Ring video taken around the time of the shooting had been erased. Crabbe’s family says the cameras are in a living room area – not the bedroom – and only recorded when there was motion.

Meanwhile, Crabbe said she’s focused on spending as much time as possible with her children.

“We’re just taking full advantage of the time we have because we don’t know how much time that’s going to be,” she said.

“I try to hope for the best and just prepare for the worst-case scenario,” she said.

Crabbe’s attorneys say prosecutors offered her a chance to plead guilty and get no more than 15 years in prison, but she turned it down. 

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