Crystal Mangum

"I'm going to stab you f**ker!"

- Mangum during a fight with her boyfriend Milton Walker Crystal Mangum (born 1978) is an African-American woman best known for her involvement in the Duke lacrosse rape case.

1978-1998
Mangum was born in Durham, Carolina, to Travis and Mary Mangum. She graduated Hillside High School in 1996. That same year, she claimed that she had been kidnapped and raped by her boyfriend and two others when she was fourteen. The charges were ultimately dropped by Mangum in a move relatives claimed was motivated by fear, though her father Travis did not believe that she had been in any way assaulted, sexually or otherwise. Mangum then joined the US Navy, where she learned to be a navigator and married a sailor named Kenneth McNeill. Her marriage soon broke down, and in 1998 Mangum accused McNeill of threatening to murder her. During the trial, she failed to appear in court and McNeill was acquitted. Soon after, she was discharged when an affair with another sailor caused her to become pregnant.

First criminal conviction
In 2002 Mangum, who was back in Durham working as a stripper, stole a taxi after giving a lap dance to the driver and taking the keys from him. She then drove down the road at seventy mph, prompting a high-speed chase. During the chase, Mangum almost killed one of the officers by driving directly at him, although she only succeeded in hitting his car. She was eventually arrested and found to be intoxicated. She was convicted of eluding the police, drunk driving, theft and assault and put on probation, as well as paying $4,200. She later obtained an associate degree in police psychology.

Duke lacrosse case
In 2006 Mangum was hired as a stripper for a party held by the Duke University lacrosse team. She arrived intoxicated and was sent to perform at a house rented by team captains Reade Seligmann, Collin Figgerty and David Evans. While there, she argued with the occupants and left before getting into a fight with another stripper invited to the house. She was arrested and almost sent to a drug rehab centre, however at this point she accused the three captains of locking her in a toilet and raping her. After a lengthy trial leading to a controversy involving the actions of prosecutor Mike Nifong, the players were found innocent of all charges. Mangum later published a memoir claiming that she had been raped both at the party and when she was fourteen.

Arson charge and murder case
In February 2010 Mangum was arrested after a fight with her boyfriend Milton Walker, during which she allegedly threatened to stab him and set fire to some of his clothes. She was charged with arson, child abuse and resisting arrest. After going on trial, Mangum was found not guilty of arson and sent to prison for eighty-eight days for other offences, as well as having her daughter taken away.

In April 2011 Mangum stabbed her new boyfriend Reginald Daye, who later died. While on trial, Mangum claimed that Daye tried to kill her, but this was never proved and she was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. She is currently serving this sentence in North Carolina.