photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Julius Beasley is pictured Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, at his preliminary hearing in Douglas County District Court.

Updated at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7

Eleven former residents of a Lawrence homeless camp took the witness stand Monday to testify about events surrounding the homicide of a fellow camper in February, painting a lurid picture of heavy drug use and interpersonal strife but also of a close-knit community committed to helping one another survive.

The testimony came at the preliminary hearing for Julius Beasley, who has been charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of first-degree murder in the death of Crystal White, 51, who was found dead in her tent at an unsanctioned camp in North Lawrence in the early-morning hours of Feb. 22.

photo by: Contributed

Crystal White

One witness, speaking barely above a whisper, told the court how she and White, whom the witness considered an adoptive mother, were getting high on methamphetamine shortly before White died. She said the two of them got high on meth “as much as possible,” but when asked where the meth came from, she was initially reluctant to answer, saying only from “our pockets.” However, when pressed by Beasley’s lawyer, Branden Smith, she said that White had given her the meth. When asked if they ingested the drug through a needle in the neck, she replied, “hopefully.”

She said she didn’t remember which one of them injected White. She said they were also smoking K2, a synthetic designer drug that is intended to mimic the THC found in marijuana.

Another witness described how he was called to White’s tent later by someone who said something was wrong with White. When he arrived at the tent, he said two other residents were already performing CPR. He took White’s pulse at her neck, but couldn’t detect a beat. When emergency crews arrived shortly thereafter, he said, they took her body from her tent, laid her on the ground and cut open her shirt. It’s then, he said, that he saw “three or four stab wounds” on her chest, though he had not seen any blood previously, even on the hands of the man who had been doing CPR chest compressions on her.

The man said he knew White because she had helped him learn the ropes of living in the homeless camp.

“When people are homeless, everyone tries to help each other as best they can,” he said.

He testified that he never saw White using or distributing drugs, though other witnesses, including White’s biological daughter, who also lived at the camp, said her mom was mostly into K2 but also used methamphetamine, and had sometimes used so much K2 that she’d have an overdose-like reaction that another witness called “dizzying out.”

The testimony of the witnesses often seemed to conflict — for instance, regarding times and the closeness of certain relationships — and it was rife with nicknames like Candyman, Boogeyman, Nerfgun and Boom, as well as mentions of people being in an out of jail or prison. Mysterious references to things like a “round table” and a “witch book” were also made but not explained.

There seemed to be consensus, however, that Beasley and White were good friends, “always having fun.” When White’s daughter testified tearfully about how close Beasley and her mother had been, Beasley was also seen in court wiping back tears.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Julius Beasley wipes away tears Monday, Oct, 7, 2024, at his preliminary hearing as a witness describes his close relationship with the woman he is accused of killing.

Most of the witnesses who testified knew Beasley by the street name “Three,” and the woman who testified about shooting up meth said he had been in White’s tent that night, as did other witnesses. At some point, the woman was sent by White to the city-sanctioned part of the camp to buy a cellphone. She said that when she left White’s tent, only White and Beasley were inside.

Shortly afterward she heard screaming and “followed the screams” back toward White’s tent, where she saw a man administering CPR to White.

That man also testified Monday, telling the court that White was “a really close friend.” He said when he got to White’s tent she was “motionless” and that Beasley was there, but he said he didn’t see any blood or wounds.” When the EMTs pulled her out of the tent, “that’s when they realized foul play was involved,” he said, indicating that she had been stabbed.

The young woman testified that White and her boyfriend, also a camp resident who generally stayed in her tent, had gotten into a fight the day before about sex, while another witness said Beasley and a camp resident had had a physical scuffle over the other resident “talking smack” on Beasley for days on end. That man, who also spoke of White as his adoptive mother, later testified that Beasley had punched him in the kidney during an argument. When asked by defense counsel if that argument had been over stealing Beasley’s medicines, the man said no.

He also testified that while he was in a tent listening to music with other campers that he had heard White say, “Stop, Three. Why’d you stab me?” And he said that Beasley wouldn’t look him in the eye shortly thereafter when he asked what had happened. That same man, however, also testified that no one else he was with heard the comment over the “concert”-level music, and he started talking about “energy force and magic” that humans “are not meant” to understand.

One witness, who testified that he had known White’s boyfriend for 30 years, said he had loaned White $20 that day and that she had also asked Beasley for $15, but Beasley had said no.

Several witnesses testified that Beasley and White frequently joked and played around, and one said that White had even scolded another woman for “disrespecting” Beasley by yelling at him.

The man who loaned White money testified that he woke up in the middle of the night and heard White, in a nearby tent, saying, “Ow, that hurts. You’re hurting me. Stop,” but he said her voice did not sound panicked, but almost as if she were responding to “horseplay.” Then, though, he said he heard her say, “I’m not lying. Please leave.” And he said she called out asking where her boyfriend was. Others, including the boyfriend himself, testified that he had gone to another homeless camp across the river at Burcham Park.

The man who heard White talking also testified that as he was cleaning up trash around the camp he found a black knife in the grass with an approximately six-inch blade. A picture displayed in court showed a black knife with white writing that said, “Enjoy life, it’s delicious.”

The man said he picked up the knife with a sock around his hand and turned it over to a city worker at the property. He said he was concerned that someone would hurt someone with it.

“There’s a lot of mentally unstable people around here,” he said of the homeless camp.

Testimony about two other knives was also heard. One knife, described as a Milwaukee utility blade, belonged to White’s daughter’s boyfriend, who said he had left it for another man in exchange for a beer. The other knife was one that the daughter’s boyfriend saw in the backpack of another woman at the camp. That blade was six to nine inches long, had a brown or black handle and was turned over to police. It wasn’t clear Monday which of the knives discussed, if any, might have been related to the alleged stabbing.

White’s daughter testified that the last time she saw her mother alive was when the two had hugged and said “I love you” earlier that evening before heading to their separate tents.

The parties had not finished questioning witnesses by the end of the day Monday and requested another half day. Judge Donovan scheduled that half day for Oct. 30, after which she will rule on whether Beasley will stand trial for murder.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A memorial for Crystal White, who died at an unsanctioned camp in North Lawrence on Feb. 22, 2024.