Attorneys for Rayfondia Craft Due Back in Court Next Week

Attorneys for Rayfondia Craft, who is charged with the 2016 murder of Lavonia businessman Sam Harbin, are expected back in Franklin County Superior Court next week to give Superior Court Judge Chris Phelps a status report on their preparations for trial.

On August 8, 2016, an employee of the Point South Mobile Home Park owned by 82-year-old Harbin, found him dead in his home on Gilmer St. in Lavonia after he failed to show up to his office that morning.

Several days later on August 11, then 45-year-old Rayfondia Rashan Craft of Hartwell and 30-year-old Kristen Monique Odister of Bowersville were arrested in Hart County.

In September 2016, the Franklin County Grand Jury handed down a true bill on eight felony counts against the pair including, Malice Murder,  Felony Murder, Burglary in the First Degree, Home Invasion, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery, and Kidnapping.

According to the indictment, Odister had been a tenant in the Park South Mobile Home Park and had purchased a Cadillac from Harbin which he owner-financed for her.

When she failed to keep up the payments, Harbin repossessed the car.

On the morning of August 8, 2016, investigators say Odister and Craft entered Harbin’s home, tied him up, and beat him to death before burglarizing his home and stealing the Cadillac.

After an intensive investigation by the GBI, and Hart, Franklin, and Lavonia authorities, Odister and Craft were arrested in Bowersville and charged with one count each of malice murder.

In 2019, Odister avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Odister waived any and all rights to appeal her conviction and sentence.

She will not be eligible for parole until 2046.  Craft continues to be held without bond.

No trial date for him has yet been set.