Inset: Robbie Crites (Obituary). Background: A view of the Jacks Fork River in Eminence, Mo. (Google Maps).
Authorities in Missouri have taken three men into custody in connection with the death of a man initially thought to have drowned accidentally, officials revealed on Thursday.
Charged with second-degree murder, Zachary D. Watson, Ronald D. Brawley III, and Austin D. Womack are accused of being involved in the death of 20-year-old Robbie Crites, according to a statement released by the Shannon County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident took place on June 16, 2018, along the Jacks Fork River in Eminence, a quaint resort town in the Ozarks, approximately 130 miles east of Springfield.
Although Crites was an adult when he died, the sheriff’s office statement frequently refers to him as a “child.”
Initially, Crites’ death had been classified as a drowning, but his family harbored doubts from the start.
“I will not give up, I will not give up on Robbie,” his mother expressed to Springfield’s NBC affiliate KYTV in 2020. “Somehow, some way, I’ll get justice for my son.”
Last year, law enforcement took the same perspective.
“After reopening the case at the beginning of 2025, investigators with the Shannon County Sheriff’s Office conducted an extensive and thorough review of the original investigation, evidence, and circumstances surrounding Robbie’s death,” the press release reads. “Through that reinvestigation, new information and evidence came to light that led investigators to believe the child’s death was not accidental.”
Now, investigators allege Watson acted “in concert with another person or persons” to attack Crites, wrap him up in fishing line, and deposit him in the river, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Springfield-based CBS affiliate KOLR.
As for the source of the new information that led to the case’s reopening, Womack repeatedly admitted to killing Crites in front of several different witnesses, according to the charging document.
One witness said they confronted the defendant about the death while he was walking around and carrying a 12-pack of beer.
“Yeah, I killed that motherf—, he owed me money for dope,” Womack allegedly told one witness roughly three weeks after Crites died.
After that alleged admission, the defendant allegedly kept on walking.
Another witness allegedly said Womack gave several different reasons for the attack and described the violence in detail at a bonfire in Winona, a tiny city located a few miles due south of Eminence.
The defendant allegedly admitted to confronting Crites, hitting him with his own fishing pole, then punching and kicking him before stabbing him with a fishing hook and ripping it across his torso before finally kicking him into the water, according to the probable cause statement. Other witnesses at the bonfire confirmed those alleged admissions and told law enforcement others had been wrongly suspected of committing the crime, authorities claim.
Watson was placed near the river on the day in question by multiple witnesses, according to the probable cause statement. Those witnesses allegedly said Watson was there with another man.
“A child’s life was taken, and for seven and a half years the truth sat buried,” Shannon County Sheriff Steven Hogan said in a statement. “That ends today. Our investigators refused to let this case remain closed when the facts did not add up. This office is committed to seeking justice, no matter how much time has passed.”
Each of the defendants is being detained in the Shannon County jail on $250,000 cash-only bond.
The sheriff’s office is imploring anyone with information “regarding the death of Robbie Crites” to come forward and share it with investigators “no matter how small you believe it may be.”
Law&Crime reached out to the sheriff’s office for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
