photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Julius Beasley

Updated at 3:13 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26

Lawrence police on Monday recommended charges for a suspect alleged to have stabbed a Lawrence woman to death last week at an unsanctioned camp for people experiencing homelessness, and the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office filed a first-degree murder charge in the case.

The man is an individual whom police detained shortly after Crystal White, 51, of Lawrence, was found dead in her tent in North Lawrence.

White’s body was found around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 22 near 100 Maple St., as the Journal-World reported.

The suspect, Julius Robert Beasley, 40, was detained for questioning shortly after the incident but police did not immediately identify him as a suspect. On Monday, police said that they were recommending charges of first-degree murder and felony interference, according to a release from the department. The DA’s office on Monday afternoon, in addition to the murder charge, filed a felony charge of interference with law enforcement for Beasley’s alleged resistance as officers tried to collect a buccal swab pursuant to a warrant.

Beasley was initially arrested at Burcham Park shortly before 9 a.m. that day on suspicion of a parole violation and failure to appear for a municipal court violation. According to Kansas Department of Corrections records, Beasley has a history of multiple drug convictions, burglary and criminal threat, and he reportedly had absconded from his post-release supervision on Feb. 19 after being released from prison earlier this month in Douglas County. He was previously an inmate at Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility. He is being held without bond.

White’s celebration of life ceremony has been scheduled for Sunday and a fundraiser has been started by her sister to pay for the service, as the Journal-World reported.

photo by: Contributed

Crystal White