One died; two survived but had serious injuries. Downs was found guilty in June 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her 3 children, killing 1, in 1983. During the search for the strange gunman Diane kept giving bizarre interviews , one of the detectives on the case stated "she couldn't keep her mouth shut" ("The Diane Downs Story", 2010). Downs was found guilty in June, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. [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. A jury subsequently convicted Downs on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years, according to Glamour. I was afraid of how am I going to handle all this? he added. "Her initial statement was that she had taken the kids out to a friend's house," said Welch. We just ignored it, Wilhite said. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Distractify is a registered trademark. However, investigators and hospital workers became suspicious, because they decided that Downs' manner was too calm for a person who had just experienced such a traumatic event. At least, that's the story Diane Downs told police. She had been shot in the left forearm, though her wound was not life-threatening. Doug Welch, then a detective with the Lane County Sheriff's Office, remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. "She was white, she was not breathing. The stroke Christie Downs suffered impaired her speech and initially prevented her from telling police what she had seen. 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. 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 that's gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". Here's what we know. Christie Ann, born in 1974, is the eldest of the Downs children, and Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, born in 1979, is the youngest. Fred Hugi, adopted the children., Famed true-crime author Ann Rule wrote about the case. 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. Video related to diane downs children now: christie, danny & becky today, My Mothers Sins l 20/20 Diane Downs l Part 2, WATCH THE FULL EPISODE OF 20/20: bit.ly/2uqkFD4 Diane Downs laughs while reenacting shooting of 3 children Police found Downs' behavior suspicious. Within two weeks police had tracked her down to the home of another inmate's husband just blocks from the prison. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. I cant remember a specific time when my mom or dad said youre adopted. But when I was about eight years old, I started asking questions about the adoption. Did I make a mistake? From Arizona to Oregon, the family had moved just shortly before the incident for Dianes job in the U.S. postal service. Whether it tugs at your heartstrings or angers you to the core, these stories could have happened years ago, and they still take up space in your memories. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. As for Danny, he has kept his life private. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? She was required to serve twenty-five years before being considered for parole. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence. When I hear about three children being shot, I thought, How am I going take care of three people? Because I wasn't afraid of what I needed to do. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. She named the fourth baby Amy Elizabeth before the state handed her over to her adoptive parents. the incident happened on a dark road that led to Diane being accused of murder and attempted murder. Wilhite said he also noticed that when Downs went to visit Christie in the recovery room, her stats would spike. "And so the quickest, simplest way was to eliminate the children.". DIANE Downs is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own children. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. Diane Downs' ex husband, Steve Downs, lost a lot in May 1983 when his ex wife shot their three children, following their divorce in 1980. She claimed that she was carjacked on a rural road near Springfield by a strange man who shot her and the children. Her pupils were dilated. All Rights Reserved. She's been called "evil" and "the . I showered, slept for 4 hours, woke up and drank water, then went back to sleep for 16 more hours, she wrote. My parents wanted us to prosper, to learn and to grow, she told ABC. For ten days, Downs managed to evade law enforcementdespite a fourteen-state manhuntbefore she was recaptured. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. Christies Facebook page shows she has children, has a different married last name, and is living in Oregon. District Attorney Fred Hugi asked Christie if she remembered who shot her. According to Oprah.com, Christie and Dannyhave chosen to live private lives. In 1989, the Associated Press reported that then 14-year-old Christie Ann was left with speech impairment, and 9-year-old Danny is paralyzed from the waist down. Downs told investigators that she and her children had been shot in a carjacking, but police found a secret diary detailing her obsession with a married man who did not want kids. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. May 12, 2010 -- Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. ", 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. Downs was convicted of shooting her three children: Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon 37 years ago. Do I throw it away? She didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.. 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 Queen has almost never put a foot wrong as she marks 70th year on the throne. Wilhite said he then found a judge who issued an order making him and another doctor Christies guardians. Two of the kids survived the shooting with life altering injuries, and one of the children died. 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). Anne Jaeger was a local reporter for KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. What happened to Diane Downs' children? 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. An appeal of . 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. ET) on ABC. Learn about Christi (Hugi), Stephen (Danny), and Becky today. Downs had also been shot, in the left forearm, though her wound was not life threatening. Photo: September 26, 1988. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. Under Oregon law at the time, as a dangerous offender, Downs would have been eligible for a parole hearing every two years until she is released or dies in prison. 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. On a fateful night in May 1983, she rushed to the emergency ward of a hospital . And, Cheryl Lynn, had reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday, March 22, at 9 p.m. [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. Critics said she deliberately became pregnant in order to garner sympathy from the jury. 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. Thirty-five years ago, Diane Downs, now 64, was convicted of shooting her three children Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon. 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. 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. The surgeon who helped to save Christie's life told ABC News: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead. 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. This is why I chose to tell my story. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The first letter I wrote Diane, I must have written 100 times, she says. Prior to being sentenced, Downs gave birth to a girl she named Amy Elizabeth. She was afraid of her mother. She provides an update on Christie and Danny today, writing on her website: Adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984, Christie and Dannywho somehow survived their gunshot woundshave no contact with Diane. Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries. The two older kids were Diane's with ex-husband Steve, however, Danny wasn't Steve's. The . The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. California Department of Corrections Previously, Diane was housed in a maximum-security prison for women in Clinton, N.J. As for why she wasn't in Oregon where the crimes took place, " [prison] officials said they . She named the fourth baby Amy Elizabeth before the state handed her over to her adoptive parents. She was denied parole in 2008 and continues to proclaim her innocence. ', I didnt just tear it open and start reading, Babcock tells the show. 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