Her pupils were dilated. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to their star witness. [30][31][1] Downs maintained her innocence in all parole hearings. In 1983, Diane Downs three children were brought to an Oregon hospital with gunshot wounds. What happened to Diane Downs' children? "I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much," she said. Would love your thoughts, please comment. She has a son (born 2005) and a daughter, whom she named Cheryl in memory of her late sister. Danny and Christie survived the attack while middle child, Cheryl, died from her injuries at the time. Within two weeks police had tracked her down to the home of another inmate's husband just blocks from the prison. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. "Her initial statement was that she had taken the kids out to a friend's house," said Welch. I mean, she is so close to death, its unbelievable.. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. And Christie knew that.. I think that's one of the things that-- ended up hurting her case. Becky is the fourth and youngest child of Diane who is currently serving a life sentence for shooting three of . While Danny and Christie survived, Cheryl, the. 1983: Diane Downs Attempts to Murder Her Three Children. A judge had already placed Downs' two surviving children in protective custody. He and his wife, Joanne, legally adopted the children in 1986. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. Who is Becky Babcock and where is she now? I showered, slept for 4 hours, woke up and drank water, then went back to sleep for 16 more hours, she wrote. "She talked all the time. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? For other inquiries, Contact Us. By the time Wilhite arrived, Downs had driven her blood-soaked car to the emergency room. Downs claimed that on a drive home from a friends house, she decided to take the scenic route home. But surgeon Steve Wilhite managed to revive Christie after her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and she suffered a stroke. Convicted child killer Diane Downs is seen on a video as the Oregon parole board unanimously rules that she remains dangerous and must stay in prison during a hearing at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., Dec. 10, 2010. Diane Downs remains in prison in California. [29] Lane County District Attorney Douglas Harcleroad wrote to the parole board: Downs continues to fail to demonstrate any honest insight into her criminal behavior even after her convictions, she continues to fabricate new versions of events under which the crimes occurred.[29] He also wrote that she alternately refers to her assailants as a bushy-haired stranger, two men wearing ski masks, or drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement officials.[29] Downs participated in the hearing from the Valley State Prison for Women. She said she had not seen a male stranger that night. He and his wife, Joanne, adopted them in 1986. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The first two children were Dianes kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Missing baby is feared dead as police arrest aristocrat Constance Marten and boyfriend on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter: 200 officers search allotments and compost bins near where . She says it was during the struggle with the stranger that she was shot in the arm. There was just a little part of me that felt like I was searching for something else. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Is Oregon relatively virus-free, or are my children in greater danger than the red circle size suggests? Becky Babcock was born while Diane was incarcerated. Her blood pressure was non-existent or very low. Since his ex wife was sentenced to life in prison, he has not reappeared in public life nor has he given any television interviews about his family. After months of physical and mental therapy, Christie Downs was finally able to take the stand and tell what happened to her that horrible night. At the time Diane had told police that a stranger attempted to carjack her and shot the kids, and thats what her ex husband was told, too. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Thank you all for sharing your stories with me and reminding me why I came forward. "Sightseeing when it's pitch black out? Powered by. I had a great family, a great life. Critics said she deliberately became pregnant in order to garner sympathy from the jury. [29], Downs had parole hearings in 2010 and 2020, which were both denied. In 1984, Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her three children, 3-year-old Danny, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 8-year-old Christie. Shortly before her death, Cheryl Lynn reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. And I said to her, We don't know that. Steve Downs, their father, actually left Diane in 1980 because he thought that Danny was the result of an extramarital affair that she had. Cheryl died; the other two children survived, but they suffered terrible wounds according to Glamour, the bullets paralyzed Danny and gave Christie a stroke. Danny is said to be going about his daily routine, but specifics regarding his personal life, such as his spouse and children, have remained a mystery, according to Tuko. Her three children -- 8-year-old Christie, 7-year-old Cheryl and 3 . "They have both graduated from college. Downs told investigators that she and her. A year later, when Diane was arrested and put on trial, Christie, at just 9 years old, having just recovered her ability to speak, testified against her in court. Today, 35-year-old Babcock works as a behavioral health coordinator for children in Salem, Oregon. She replied, 'You've got to be kidding,' at which time he pushed her aside and reached in and shot the sleeping kids.". They have maintained private lives since and have never spoken publically about their birth mother. [29] After three hours of interviews and thirty minutes of deliberation, she was denied parole. The case of Diane Downs and her three children is one of those a horrible tragic case that people still think about 37 years later. Therefore, they grew up privately and continue to live their adult lives privately. The girl was later renamed Becky Babcock. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. Growing up, Diane followed those values, however, after the age of 14, she became more rebellious and eventually dropped "Elizabeth" from her name and went by Diane. Famed true-crime author, Ann Rule, provided an update on them by writing on her now defunct website: Christie and Dannywho somehow survived their gunshot woundshave no contact with Diane. She found out who her biological mother was when she was 11 years old, ABC reported. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diane_Downs&oldid=1139832541, Incarcerated; earliest possible release 2025, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 03:51. Diane Downs continues to this day to proclaim her innocence, even though she has changed her story dozens of times as to what exactly happened the night her 3 little children were shot, and even though one of her other daughter's admitted in open court that it was her mother that shot all 3 children. At around 10 p.m. that May night, police said Diane Downs pulled over to the side of a country road near Springfield and shot her three small children multiple times at close range. . In court, according to Glamour, prosecutors argued that Downs motive to get rid of her children stemmed from the fact that her boyfriend at the time did not want kids. She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years. COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. I have never changed my story.[29] Her first parole hearing was on December 9, 2008. Wilhite said Christie's blood pressure had been so low that she suffered a stroke. According to witnesses, she then drove at a pace of between 5-7 mph to the local hospital, where she then claimed to hospital staff she had been car-jacked by a stranger who shot herself and her children. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. It was an unthinkable, brutal killing in 1983 that terrified parents around the country. A mother was driving one night down a rural road in Oregon when her three children, who were asleep in the car, were shot at point-blank range by a stranger in the dark. [24] While in prison, she earned an associate degree in General Studies. https://t.co/cPfs75obUg pic.twitter.com/uSnlFF2IRw. Anne Bradley Jaeger was a local reporter for ABC affiliate KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, were shot in the May 19, 1983 attack. It was exciting. Diane Downs Today: Where Is the Convicted Child Killer Now? On Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings, Downs was arrested and charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. (Featured Image Credit: ABC News / 20/20). [2], On November 13, 1973, Diane married Steve Downs after running away from home. The outlet also reported Downs as saying that prisoners at the facility started suffering from COVID-19 symptoms in February. She was afraid of her mother. At one point, she communicated with Downs through letters, but those eventually stopped when Babcock asked Downs to stop contacting her. Though she shot all three children, only Cheryl died Christie and Danny survived . In 1987, just three years into her sentence, Downs escaped from the correctional facility in Oregon where she was being held. She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. Downs was convicted of shooting her three children: Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon 37 years ago. She has been housed in California for the Oregon Department of Corrections since Aug. 30, 1993.. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. Christie, now in her mid-40s, still lives in Oregon, in Springfield, and has a big, loving family. When Wilhite went to go update Downs on her daughters condition, he said he was surprised by her reaction. The . Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, where she met Steve Downs. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. Diane Downs was one of the most infamous murderers of the 1980s; the emotionally flat blonde was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. I wanted to relate to her not as a mother, because I had a mother just as somebody who felt the pain and the emptiness that I felt in that time., She wrote back super quickly, Babcock says. The outlet reported that the prison houses 3,000 inmates and, as of April, was being locked down to protect against the spread of the virus. Within two weeks police had tracked her down to the home of another inmate's husband just blocks from the prison. She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. According toHeavy, crime author Ann Rule said: "Crime author Ann Rule wrote on her website: "Christie and Danny who somehow survived their gunshot wounds have no contact with Diane. "People would see little sound bites of her talking on television, and I think they started getting the feeling that there's something really wrong with this person," Jaeger said. Diane considered the kids to be a burden or a hindrance to Nick's arrival, Welch said. Downs claimed that during this drive home, around 10 pm she saw a strange man standing in the road flagging her down. However, according to her interviews and Facebook page, Becky today appears to have forged a successful life. The first letter I wrote Diane, I must have written 100 times, she says. She named the fourth baby Amy Elizabeth before the state handed her over to her adoptive parents. From Arizona to Oregon, the family had moved just shortly before the incident for Dianes job in the U.S. postal service. [28], In her first application for parole in 2008, Downs reaffirmed her innocence. Learn about Diane Downs' children now: Christie, Stephen (Danny), and Becky. After months of physical and mental therapy, Christie Downs was finally able to take the stand and tell what happened to her that horrible night. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to their star witness. Becky Babcock is speaking out about her infamous mother, Diane Downs, who was convicted of killing her own 7-year-old child and attempting to murder her other two children, ages 8 and 3, in . While they were unable to find the weapon, they found unfired casings in her home with extractor markings from the murder weapon. When she was asked who shot them, she replied with, my mom. After everything was said and done, and Diane was convicted, both Christie and Danny went to live with Fred Hugi, the lead prosecutor in the case. In 2005, she gave birth to her first child, a boy, and later gave birth to a daughter who she named Cheryl after her sister. Danny was the product of an affair. Danny and Christie survived the attack while middle child, Cheryl, died from her injuries at the time. According to ABC News, as of March 2019, Becky was 34-years-old and working in Salem Oregon as a behavioral health coordinator for children. In 2017, she posted on Facebook about a new job, writing that she works with the mentally ill helping to give them a better life.. Star Witness at Downs' Trial: Her Daughter. He responded to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital and immediately interviewed Downs, a postal worker. "And they give me love, they give me satisfaction, they give me stability, they give me a reason to live and a reason to be happy, and thats gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". "They have grown up in a very happy home with the Hugis.. Within a month of the shootings, with her two surviving children still in the hospital, Downs began giving a series of bizarre interviews to the media. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY, March 22 at 9 p.m. Downs said she then faked throwing her keys to divert the gunman's attention, pushed him out of the way, jumped back in her car and raced to the hospital with her badly wounded children. She then ran away from home and married husband, Steven Downs, in 1973, with whom she had three children - Christie Ann, Cheryl Lynn and Stephen "Danny" Daniel. The girl was later renamed Becky Babcock. "You cant replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. Rebecca wrote to Downs in her younger years, and has stated that she regrets the contact, regarding her mother as a monster.[20] [21]. The child was later renamed Rebecca Babcock by her adoptive parents. When police arrived at the scene, Downs, 27 at the time, told them a bizarre story of being flagged down by a bushy-haired stranger on a dark and deserted country road. The horrific crime, which Downs has always denied committing, is the subject of a 20/20 documentary that is airing on June 21, 2019 in an encore presentation. Diane Downs became one of the most infamous murderers in the city after she was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. One died; two survived but had serious injuries. A few years later, Babcock watched a miniseries based on her mother, and it broke her heard and her life went on a downward spiral, ABC reported. He then opened the driver's side door and shot all 3 of her children. She's doing well. "I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much," she said. Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries. I mean, obviously, if she's pregnant, she loves children, right?" Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. [1], Elizabeth Diane Downs was born on August 7, 1955 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Wesley Linden (19302017) and Willadene (Engle) Frederickson. Amy, who was adopted and given the name BeckyBabcock, went public about her mother in 2010 and has also met her in a bid to find out about her roots. In 2005 and Stephen now Christie in Springfield, Oregon 37 years ago I was searching for something else private... 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