Death of Houston County investigator in car crash ‘nothing short of tragic’, district attorney says

Richard Crooms, an investigator for the Houston County District Attorney’s office, was killed on Wednesday in a car accident on Moody Road in Houston County.

Crooms was struck by another vehicle going in the opposite direction on Moody Road near the Bryson Smith Parkway intersection. The other vehicle, driven by 27-year-old Kandace Jackson, crossed the center lanes before hitting Crooms. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident remains under investigation by the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

Crooms worked for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office from 1986 until his retirement in 2011 as a lieutenant investigator. Crooms then took a job with the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth from 2013 to 2016, training future law enforcement officers.

In 2016, he accepted a job at Middle Georgia University as part of their police department. In 2020 Crooms was hired as an investigator by the Houston County District Attorney’s office.

William M. Kendall, the acting DA, said in a release that the loss of Crooms was “nothing short of tragic,” adding his office is “heartbroken” by the loss.

“Richard set the example for others to follow and kept a kind attitude, I know he loved his family and his brothers and sisters in law enforcement,” Kendall said. “He often would share stories about his family and children, always speaking words of love. I knew Richard to be kindhearted, fair, and motivated. He was quick to make friends, quick to help out and seemed to always have an optimistic mindset.”