GRASS VALLEY, Calif. — A memorial was held in rural Grass Valley nearly one week after a knife-wielding mother was killed by a Nevada County Sheriff’s Deputy in front of her two young children.
Deidre “Sage” Crawford, 33, was killed after an incident involving her children and two responding deputies on Thursday, February 4.
More than 30 people from the area, Sacramento and beyond visited Names Drive where the incident occurred. They laid candles, religious symbols, flowers, and a sign for the 33-year-old mother.
Crawford was knocking on doors in the Names Drive neighborhood near Alta Sierra in Grass Valley seeking help after a “dangerous” incident at the hotel the woman was staying at with her children, according to Lea Schenk, a spokesperson for Crawford’s family.
Schenk stood side by side with Crawford’s mother Teresa Enfinger, 53, and sister Charlie Enfinger, 23, who came to the region from Southern California to pay respects but didn’t want to offer comment.
Neighbors called police to report “odd” behavior from the woman, said Deputy District Attorney Chris Walsh, a spokesperson for the Nevada County District Attorney’s Office the agency investigating the incident.
Two deputies with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area and Crawford showed a knife, Walsh said. One deputy deployed a taser to stop the woman but it missed, the second deputy fired his gun killing the mother.
Crawford was walking in the area with her two daughters who witnessed the incident, they are ages four and six, Schenk said. The girls were in the custody of child protective services but have now been safely placed with family members.
“What happen last Thursday is an indication of us as women and how we are not safe,” Schenk said. “How we are not protected.”
Schenk and the family are criticizing the department for the incident saying they should have helped her not killed her. The family is calling for the release of dash camera footage, for the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office to equip deputies with body cameras, for the use of less-lethal force and for answers in connection to the incident.
“The loss of human life is tragic,” Walsh said. “Regardless of whether the shooting is justified, or not, the emotional trauma is worsened in a situation where a young woman is shot and killed in front of her children.”
Footage from the deputy’s two patrol vehicle dash cameras are available and the DA’s office is working to release the footage publicly within the next week, Walsh said.
That footage reportedly includes audio and captured a majority of the incident that occurred, according to Walsh.
