Mother of Man Killed, Encased in Concrete in Aurora Raising Money to Attend Murder Trial

Kyla Dubberstein has known the man accused of killing her son for years. He had been friends with her son, Karl "KJ" Beaman Jr., since high school, and Beaman was even godfather to one of his children.

Now, Dubberstein wants to look Haskel Leroy Crawford in the eyes when he is put on trial for Beaman's murder.

"I want Leroy to see my face. I want him to see the anguish that he's put us through," Dubberstein says. "But mainly, I want KJ to have a face in the courtroom. I want to stand up for him, because he can't do it. I want to be that face for him, even as hard as it's going to be."

Dubberstein is raising money to help her attend the murder trial in Arapahoe County, far from her home in Phoenix. Her GoFundMe had raised nearly $2,000 as of Tuesday, August 13, which will be used to pay for Dubberstein and her husband's travel and lodging during the trial, scheduled for September 3 through 11.

Dubberstein last spoke to her son in May 2022. After a few weeks of not being able to reach him, she hired a private investigator to track Beaman down and launched a Facebook account dedicated to his disappearance, she says. The search was fruitless. But nearly one year later, in April 2023, a tipster messaged the Facebook account, telling Dubberstein they knew what happened to her son.

Beaman, 36, had been killed and encased in concrete inside the crawl space of an Aurora condo, said the tipster, later identified as a neighbor of one of the suspects. Police soon found Beaman's body at the home of Crawford's former girlfriend, Casie Bock. Crawford and Bock were arrested shortly after.

"KJ was loved, and he is greatly missed by a lot of people," Dubberstein says. "KJ was the kindest man you'll ever meet. He would give his shirt off his back to somebody if they needed it."

The neighbor that tipped off Dubberstein later told police that Bock said Crawford killed Beaman because the pair had been stealing catalytic converters and, after they were caught or almost caught, Crawford thought Beaman was a police informant, according to arrest affidavit reports.

The affidavit also alleges that Bock admitted to helping hide Beaman's body, but not to participating in the murder. She reportedly told police that Crawford threatened her and forced her into putting Beaman’s body in the crawl space under her condo and then returned the next day with a bag of concrete to cover the remains. When cracks later emerged, Crawford allegedly returned to add more concrete, the Associated Press reported.

"I know KJ kind of got mixed up in some things that he wasn't supposed to, but he really was a good person," Dubberstein says. "KJ moved to Denver so that he could help Leroy with his business — but he was a contractor, and his business kind of went under when COVID hit."

Beaman came to Dubberstein as a foster child when he was in kindergarten, she says. She and her then-husband adopted him a few years later, with Beaman choosing to change his name to "Karl Jr." or "KJ" after his new father.

Since his murder, Dubberstein says she's been inundated with stories from people touched by Beaman's kindness — like when he spent an entire day working on a stranger's car after they broke down outside his friend's house, or when he drove a stranded woman all the way to Grand Junction to get her home. Dubberstein says Beaman and Crawford were best friends, at times roommates, and considered each other family.

"They called each other brothers," she adds.

Crawford was charged with first-degree murder after deliberation and tampering with a deceased human body. He pleaded not guilty in April.

While Dubberstein says no sentence will bring justice for her son, she hopes Crawford receives a life sentence, or at least that he remains in prison for the rest of her life. For the past year, she's been monitoring his legal proceedings virtually, but she plans to attend every day of the trial in person.

"The thought of finally seeing him in person, it's really hard to think about," Dubberstein says. "I'm really nervous about it, having to hear everything that happened and having to relive that all over again."

She says she's surprised by the reception to her GoFundMe, nearing its initial $2,000 goal after only three days. She intends to donate a portion of any excess funds to Homicide Survivors Inc., a group she says was working to help support her travel expenses before her sister launched the fundraiser.

"I want to be of help to other families that are going through the same thing," Dubberstein says. "It can be a nightmare."