Sage Crawford - Deidre Hawkins Memorial Fund

On Wednesday night, the eve before her death on February 4th 2021, Ariella Sage Eloise Crawford (commonly known in the local community as Sage Crawford, birth name Deidre Hawkins) confided in numerous sources that she was being harassed by law enforcement and that she was concerned for the safety of her two daughters, 4 and 6 years old, specifically because of a possible incident that occurred at a local shelter, though no reports exist to substantiate or discredit this claim. Sources who were in contact with her the days leading up to her death described her as terrified, but not erratic. Sage was from Southern California originally, with family in Oregon, but had been in the Nevada County area since last year.

“I put forth all the effort into changing for the better, because that’s what my children deserve.” Sage Crawford wrote these words years ago, but had continued to show through action that she meant them since losing the father of her children, Isaiah Crawford, in a tragic motorcycle accident on May 30th 2017 while she was pregnant with their youngest daughter.

On Thursday, February 4th, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) was dispatched to a call in the community of Alta Sierra for a young woman walking down the shoulder of the road in the afternoon holding each of her daughter’s hands, the report stating that she seemed intoxicated and was walking in the middle of the road. Sage, also known by her birth name Deidre Hawkins, seemed familiar with the neighborhood and had knocked on a resident’s door to ask for jackets for her children as well as a ride to the neighboring state of Nevada for undisclosed reasons. The dispatch call at 1:14pm mentioned a female needing a ride to Nevada, saying that her children were in danger. Ten minutes later, officers arrive on the scene and within minutes she pulled a knife during a psychotic break, a taser had deployed unsuccessfully, then  followed by gun shots that resulted in her death.  

The daughters have since been reunited with biological extended family and are physically safe in a judicially granted guardianship. Both the Hawkins and Crawford family have joined together to find out the truth about what happened on 2/4/21 and the days leading up to her death, but also with a focus on giving the children all that they need during this difficult time.

The family has agreed upon how to distribute these donations which will be first used to pay for any expenses related to  the cremation and transport of the physical remains and then the remaining will be put towards the two girls and their continued care with an emphasis on mental health care and trauma counseling.

For concerned parties:
My name is Loxie Gant and I am serving as the victim advocate and activist in the pursuit of justice and long term care for the family. I also work in conjunction with the retained attorney, Dante Pride of The Pride Law Firm. This money collected will be directly deposited into an account managed by the family and I personally will have no access to the money. This is being set up in this manner to protect the privacy of the children and the victim's loved ones at this time. Dante Pride can be reached by email at [email redacted]. Loxie can be reached here or emailed at [email redacted].

*The words written above are taken from a wonderful piece written by a Nevada County resident and local activist, Olivia Steele and her blog THE REVOLUTION READS. We thank her for her timed continued efforts to shine light locally on the situation and the pursuit of justice. https://therevolutionreads.com/usnews/justice-for-sage-crawford