A man has admitted to aiding his brother-in-law in the murder of two children and burying their bodies behind the family’s trailer home.
Mark Wright has entered a plea of guilt to charges including second-degree murder, first and second-degree child cruelty, two counts of concealing a death, and false imprisonment.
In a negotiated agreement with prosecutors, Wright’s initial malice murder charge was reduced to second-degree murder, and one of the first-degree child cruelty charges was downgraded to second-degree. The death penalty was removed as an option. He could face a maximum of 80 years in prison when sentenced in October.
Hailing from Georgia, Wright is one of five individuals indicted in connection with the deaths of Elwyn Crocker Jr. (2016) and Mary Crocker (2018), aged 14. The siblings’ bodies were found in December 2018, buried behind their father’s residence in Guyton.
The children’s father, Elwyn Crocker Sr., a former Walmart Santa, faces charges of malice murder, child cruelty, and concealing a death, with the possibility of the death penalty upon conviction.
Kim Wright, the mother of Mark Wright and step-grandmother of the children, is also facing similar charges. Both Crocker Sr. and Kim Wright have pleaded not guilty and await trial.
Two other defendants, Candice Crocker (the step-mother of the children) and Roy Prater (Kim Wright’s boyfriend), pleaded guilty to murder in 2020 and were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The case gained national attention when authorities, responding to a welfare check in 2018, discovered the children’s remains buried in the backyard. No reports of the children being missing had been made.
Prosecutors allege that Mary Crocker, 14, endured regular mistreatment, including being zip-tied, starved, confined naked in a dog crate, and physically abused when attempting to eat. Her last sighting was in October 2018. Elwyn, also 14, was last seen in 2016 and was reportedly subjected to severe beatings by his father.
Text messages exchanged among the suspects before and after Mary’s death reveal disturbing conversations. During a court hearing in May, prosecutors shared messages where Crocker Sr. expressed concerns about Mary’s head injuries.
On October 27, 2018, at 5:33 pm, Crocker Sr. messaged Kim Wright about burying Mary’s body, to which she casually responded. After the burial, Crocker Sr. and Kim Wright allegedly discussed going to the movies.
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