BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - More than five years after Peggy Beasley was killed, her children returned to court Thursday to give victim impact statements in the case against Deborah Shirley, an employee of the company monitoring Beasley’s estranged husband.
Shirley pleaded no contest to negligent injury and received a 90-day sentence, with jail time suspended. The plea resulted in a conviction but did not formally admit guilt. It is one of the first convictions of its kind in the country.
Prosecutors said Shirley failed to report repeated ankle-monitor violations by Marshall Rayburn, who was ordered to stay away from Beasley. GPS data previously reviewed by WAFB showed Rayburn repeatedly entered the exclusion zone around Beasley’s home. Rayburn shot and killed Beasley in September 2021, then turned the gun on himself.
Beasley’s son, Brandon Crow, said the family had waited years to speak in court.
“I’m glad that the court allowed us to come in after the conviction to give our victim impact statement,” Crow said. “I feel good about today.”
In his written statement, Crow described the questions his family still carries: “What if you had done your job? What if those violations had been reported? What if someone had recognized the danger? What if someone had intervened before it was too late? Would my mother still be alive today?”
Crow said he believes his mother’s death should never have happened.
“That this was preventable. And many, many, many ways and many, many times it was completely preventable,” he said.
Crow also said he has not seen remorse from Shirley throughout the court process. “None. None that we’ve seen,” he said.
As Shirley left court, she told WAFB her husband would speak with the station. He declined to comment.
Crow said he hopes the case leads to changes that would allow victims to be notified directly when someone violates ankle-monitor restrictions.
“The technology is there. It’s too easy for that to take place,” he said.
The owner of the ankle-monitoring company, Van Hopkins, is scheduled to go to trial in January on a negligent homicide charge tied to Beasley’s death.
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Peggy Beasley, Deborah Shirley, Marshall Rayburn, ankle monitor violations, victim impact statements, negligent injury conviction, West Feliciana Parish, ankle-monitoring company, Van Hopkins trial
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