An Indiana teenager has been convicted of murdering six members of his family after being told he couldn’t stay at his girlfriend’s house.
Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III, who was 17 years old when the crimes occurred, was charged as an adult. The jury convicted him guilty of six counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of carrying a pistol without a license.
Law and Crime reports that the sentencing date has been scheduled for January 7, 2025. Childs’ first trial resulted in a mistrial after a witness questioned why he killed his family.
The attempted murder accusation applies to Childs’ younger brother, the only survivor of the January 24, 2021 incident. He escaped with gunshot wounds to his leg and arm.
The teenagers’ escape led investigators to the crime scene on Adams Street. Six murder victims have been identified: Kezzie Childs, 42, Raymond Childs, 42, Elijah Childs, 18, Rita Childs, 13, Kiara Hawkins, 19, and Kiara’s unborn son, who was full term and close to birth.
Childs’ girlfriend informed detectives that his father had called and urged him to return home. He obeyed his father’s orders, but eventually returned to his girlfriend’s house.
Childs returned to his girlfriend’s house with two bags of clothes and claimed his father had kicked him out. About a half-hour later, Childs’ girlfriend received an alert about a gunshot on the block where he resided, but he pretended ignorance.
The children’s surviving brother told investigators what happened inside the house. He stated that his father had requested him to fill a bottle with water, so he went to the restroom to do so.
He claimed he then heard two gunshots. According to the probable cause affidavit: “His father got out of bed, ran to the stairs, and asked, ‘What was that?'” He then heard his sister R.C. (Rita Childs) say, ‘Raymond shot Elijah!’
“Another gunshot went off, and he heard his dad say ‘I’m sorry Raymond, I love you’.” The surviving brother fled outside, but his brother pursued him down.
The child begged Childs not to murder him, saying, “I can give you forty dollars, please don’t kill me.” Childs then shot his sibling in the legs and arms.
Childs was eventually apprehended by police at the house of a family member. “Not only did so many people die, but you think about that family and what they were expecting — the baby was due in a week,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said at a press conference announcing the charges.