GENESEO, NY— Testimony began Tuesday in Livingston County Court in the jury trial of Crystal N. Beasley, 35, of Strykersville. Beasley faces charges in the October, 2013 stabbing of Alisha Rawls, 23, of Dansville. The alleged stabbing took place on October 8th, 2013, at 10025 North Main Street, Dansville, the home of Ms. Rawls’ father, Steven M. Rawls, 53, who is a prosecution witness.
Testimony suggests that the stabbing should have been the culmination of a night of heavy drinking by the main players in the drama, but it wasn’t. After the stabbing, considerable time — possibly up to two hours — went by before anyone on the scene took the event seriously enough to seek medical attention, or even examine Alisha Rawls for injuries.
Ms. Rawls, the victim, who works in a beauty salon, was the prosecution’s lead witness. Under examination by First Assistant District Attorney Victor Rowcliffe she was the most articulate witness of the day, with the clearest description of events leading up to and following the stabbing. Ms. Rawls described first meeting and befriending Beasley in the Livingston County Jail, where the two were incarcerated. On Beasley’s abrupt release, Rawls said she gave Beasley contact information for her father, Steven Rawls, who might be able to provide a ride or assistance. Some time later Rawls herself was released, and the three crossed paths at the Dansville residence on October 7, when Alisha Rawls arrived to find Beasley and Steven Rawls “hanging out.” Thus began what Alisha Rawls described as a “pleasant fall afternoon drinking and enjoying each other’s company.”
In Tuesday morning’s testimony, particularly of the prosecution witnesses who testified after Ms. Rawls, there was considerable confusion, with no witnesses able to clearly describe the exact sequence or timing of events. Under examination and cross-examination, witnesses’ descriptions of the afternoon’s events included a trip to a nearby liquor store, vaguely romantic intentions on the part of Steven Rawls, and a conflict apparently involving a borrowed cell phone, Facebook, and old boyfriends.
Much of what the jury heard following Ms. Rawls’s testimony was muddy at best. At one point, defense attorney Hayden Dadd, following up on a line of inquiry about Steven Rawls’ relationship with Beasley, asked Rawls about his relationship history, specifically if he was in a relationship at the time of the events. Mr. Rawls seemed confused by the question. “Were you dating anyone?” Dadd asked. Rawls indicated that he dated a lot, but when pressed, was unable to name the last person he’d been in a romantic relationship with.
The timeline and sequence of the events of October 7th and 8th was particularly hazy in Steven Rawls’ testimony, but it was almost as hazy in that of his next-door neighbors, who also testified. What is totally consistent in the testimony, though, is that at some point, possibly around midnight, Steven Rawls left the scene, and during his absence Beasley allegedly stabbed Alisha Rawls with a knife with an approximately 6-inch blade.
In a startling point of consistency, using identical language, Kevin and Linda Perkowski, nextdoor neighbors, each testified that Beasley herself came to their house late in the evening and told them separately that she’d “stabbed Alisha, where it wouldn’t do any damage.” Both Linda and then Kevin Perkowski indicated that Beasley claimed she had some kind of special skill in this area. She also showed Kevin Perkowski the knife.
Ms. Rawls testified that she was stabbed in the chest three times.
None of the witnesses — not Steven Rawls or either of the neighbors — called for help or even thought to examine Alisha Rawls, who lay bleeding on a bed in the back bedroom of the 10025 address, for injuries. Kevin Perkowski testified that some time later, apparently after one to two hours had passed and his wife, Linda, reported Alisha making “gurgling” sounds, he looked in on Rawls, lifted her shirt, saw blood spurting out of a wound, and decided that she needed to go to the hospital. Despite indicating earlier in his testimony that he’d been drinking that afternoon and didn’t think it was a good idea to drive, he drove Alisha Rawls himself to Noyes Memorial Hospital.
When asked about not calling 911, Steven Rawls indicated that he didn’t want to make a call like that unless it was really necessary. He also described some hesitancy related to the low amount of minutes on his cell phone. Kevin Perkowski testified that as they were on their way out of the house with Alisha Rawls, Beasley — now charged with the stabbing — was actually placing a call to 911.
In her opening testimony, Alisha Rawls described shock and a hazy consciousness possibly related to loss of blood, and being driven to Noyes Hospital in Dansville, where she was admitted in “guarded condition,” with serious injuries including a collapsed lung. She was stabilized there, and Mrs. Rawls offered graphic testimony describing a chest tube being inserted between her ribs. She was then immediately driven by ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
At some point during her lengthy stay at Strong, which included major trauma surgery, Rawls contracted a septic infection, which spread and eventually led to partial amputation of several fingers. She testified in court Tuesday with a heavily bandaged hand that, she said, may eventually require further amputation.
The prosecution’s schedule for Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday will offer testimony from medical personnel and law enforcement officials.
Photo: Internet. Crime scene, 10025 N. Main St, Dansville. The 10021 N. Main St. home of neighbors and witnesses Kevin and Linda Perkowski is visible in the background.