"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.". She loves us. Do I throw it away? "I knew within 30 minutes of talking with that woman that she was guilty": Surgeon who helped save one of Diane Downs' kids in 1983 after she shot her recalls chilling interaction. "She calculated that this would win her sympathy in her trial. Despite significant security upgrades at the women's facility after the escape, state officials accepted Hugi's argument that the risk of harm to Christie and Danny, in the event of another escape, was too great for Downs to remain incarcerated in Oregon. 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Judge's Sentencing Decision in the Case of Kim Potter, Officer Who Fatally Shot Daunte Wright, Woman Meets Biological Son She Never Knew Existed All Thanks to DNA Test: 'Instant Love', Freed but Not Free: Convicted as a Teen, Woman Who Served 26 Years for Murder Fights to Clear Her Name, Chicago Man Released from Prison 9 Years After Identical Twin Confessed to the Murder That Put Him Behind Bars, Sex, Drugs and Sickness: Inside Susan Smith's Life in Prison After Drowning Her Sons, Turpin Sisters Who Escaped Calif. 'House of Horrors' Speak Out: 'Only Word I Know to Call It Is "Hell"', Parents Fighting to Adopt Their Own Babies Are Thrilled for Their First Christmas as a Family of 5. Downs was denied parole in December 2008, December 2010, and in 2020. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. Cheryl died; the other two children survived, but they suffered terrible wounds according to Glamour, the bullets paralyzed Danny and gave Christie a stroke. Downs told investigators that she and her. Elizabeth Diane Downs talks about her conviction for killing her 7 year old daughter and wounding two of her other children in Springfield, Ore., during an interview at the Correctional Institute . She replied, 'You've got to be kidding,' at which time he pushed her aside and reached in and shot the sleeping kids.". This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Downs Family Diane Downs and her three children. 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. The tragedy that hit the Downs' kids changed their whole life. 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. [11] The forensic evidence did not match her story; there was no blood spatter on the driver's side of the car, nor was there any gunpowder residue on the driver's door or on the interior door panel. Jaeger says Downs told her she had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to her arrest. COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass. She was denied parole in 2008 and continues to proclaim her innocence. A judge had already placed Downs' two surviving children in protective custody. She tried to cut her wrists when she was 13 years old. 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. Downs insisted that, Over the years, I have told you and the rest of the world that a man shot me and my children. [7], On May 19, 1983, Downs shot her three children, and drove them in a blood-spattered car to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon. [10] Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. Cops decided she was lying. Elizabeth Diane Downs talks about her conviction for killing her 7 year old daughter and wounding two of her other children in Springfield, Ore., during an interview at the Correctional Institute for Woman in Clinton, N.J., March 12, 1989. In 1994, after serving ten years, Downs was transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The circumstances of Becky Babcocks birth were troubled to say the least. Hospital employees determined that then-7-year-old Cheryl was already dead and that then-8-year-old Christie and then-3-year-old Danny were clinging to life. A judge had already placed Downs' two surviving children in protective custody. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3 . Not just a son, but a couple of other children as well, including a daughter, who she named after her dead sister, Cheryl. 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.. I think that's one of the things that-- ended up hurting her case. 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. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. [She said] she had been out visiting a friend who had a horse up in the Marcola area -- she and the kids -- and when it grew dark they headed home. [2] Despite her parents' disapproval of their relationship, Downs continued the relationship. The two kids who had survived the attack were placed for adoption and Steve was no able to care for them. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. READ NEXT: COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass? Jaeger remembers worrying that Downs' pregnancy could affect the way jurors viewed her. [13], Prosecutors argued that Downs shot her children to be free of them, so that she could continue her affair with Knickerbocker, as she claimed that he let it be known that he did not want children in his life. 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 . Via an email sent through her brother, James Frederickson, Downs told OregonLive, Every time the World News shows the big red circles on the national map, I look at Oregon because thats where Christie and Daniel are Compared to other States, it appears Oregons red circle is smaller than most places. Despite her difficult start, Becky was adopted and says she had a good childhood. Although Downs denied having ever owned a .22 caliber gun, ex-husband Steve Downs told police she took one with her when she moved to Oregon. During the time they were together, Diane gave birth to three children, Stephen "Danny" Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976), and Christie Ann (born 1974). From their wounds, Christie suffered a stroke that left with a speech impairment, and Danny got paralyzed from the waist down. Christie is now in her forties, according to Tuko, and the accident left her with a speech handicap. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984. Christie Ann, born in 1974, is the eldest of the Downs children, and Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, born in 1979, is the youngest. While they were unable to find the weapon, they found unfired casings in her home with extractor markings from the murder weapon. DNA Test Kits Are Helping Solve Cold Cases Decades Later, After Nearly a Year, There Could Finally be an Investigation Into the Death of Elijah McClain. 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. Although police had found spent .22 caliber bullet casings at the crime scene, an exhaustive search of the area did not turn up the murder weapon. View our online Press Pack. And as she drove down the road, a man stepped out from the brush, the side of the road, and she stopped the car. Now, as Diane Downs comes up for parole next year, her daughter speaks out. As for Danny, he has kept his life private. 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. Where is Diane Downs today? As an adult, Rebecca (Becky) appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show[18] and ABC's 20/20,[19] where she discussed how she felt about her biological mother. Downs was found guilty in June, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. 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. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair by Diane. [24] While in prison, she earned an associate degree in General Studies. ET) on ABC. 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. Boris Johnson is stuck in a chaotic spiral of scandal, walkouts, and leaving dos so where does he go from here? Whats fascinating, though, is to see how differently her children including the fourth one, who she conceived after her original surviving ones were taken away from her responded to her doings. She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years. Downs was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years for killing her 7-year-old daughter and wounding her two other children on a rural road outside Springfield, Ore., on May 19, 1983. On a fateful night in May 1983, she rushed to the emergency ward of a hospital . We found that Diane Downs was emotionally flat. A jury subsequently convicted Downs on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years, according to Glamour. "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. Elizabeth Diane Downs ( ne Frederickson; born August 7, 1955) is an American criminal who murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children near Springfield, Oregon, in May 1983. "Wouldn't I have made sure they were dead and then cried crocodile tears? Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. The two older kids were Diane's with ex-husband Steve, however, Danny wasn't Steve's. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. After that, she was charged with killing her 7-year-old daughter. She briefly escaped in 1987, but was quickly recaptured. In 1987, just three years into her sentence, Downs escaped from the correctional facility in Oregon where she was being held. 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. "I'm never going to see Cheryl on Earth again and I just, you can't replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. [8][9] Upon arrival, Cheryl (aged 7) was already dead, Danny (aged 3) was paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie (aged 8) had suffered a disabling stroke. Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to their star witness. Dr. Steven Wilhite had just walked into his house after a long day working at a Springfield, Oregon, hospital when his beeper went off. In a two-hour 20/20 documentary, Babcock opens up about learning the truth regarding her infamous mom. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. We just ignored it, Wilhite said. Her pupils were dilated. I showered, slept for 4 hours, woke up and drank water, then went back to sleep for 16 more hours, she wrote. On July 11, 1987, she escaped from her cell by scaling an eighteen-foot razor wire fence. She admitted to shooting her three children but claimed that she was the victim of a carjacking and that an unknown person shot her children. Christies Facebook page shows she has children, has a different married last name, and is living in Oregon. While police increasingly suspected Downs, she adamantly denied any involvement when speaking to the media. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Within two weeks police had tracked her down to the home of another inmate's husband just blocks from the prison. Her pupils were dilated. Ten days after her sentencing, Downs gave birth to a daughter named Amy Elizabeth. They also found a diary in which she expressed a desire to be with a married man, and the focus of the investigation shifted to Downs herself. "Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. If my story touches even one person, it was all worth it, she wrote, sharing a positive message she received from a woman whose daughter is adopted and who says Becky was brought into this life to make a difference.. She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. Her brother Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down but both survived. 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. In 1983, Diane Downs said stranger shot her 3 kids. Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. If youre here because youre curious to know where the surviving children are now, youve come to the right place. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. After being recaptured, she was transferred to a more secure facility. The couple divorced in 1980 over. According to The Cinemaholic, Steve was found to not be a good fit to care for his kids who would need specialized care and had been through a very traumatic event. "You cant replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. She was white She was not breathing. Diane Downs attempts to murder her three young children, eight-year-old Christie, seven-year-old Cheryl, and three-year-old Danny, by faking a carjacking. After leaving the public eye in 2010, she spoke to ABC News' "20/20" to share her life now. She graduated from the University of Oregon. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? https://t.co/cPfs75obUg pic.twitter.com/uSnlFF2IRw. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. Wilhite said Christie's blood pressure had been so low that she suffered a stroke. District Attorney Fred Hugi asked Christie if she remembered who shot her. Her first three children with her husband Steve are Stephen "Danny" Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976), and Christie Ann (born 1974). 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