John Jefferson
Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department via AP). Background: The police response (WRTV).
Jurors convicted a young Indiana man for murdering his entire family amid a spat over him leaving home without permission.
Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III, then 17, was charged as an adult. His first trial ended in a mistrial after a witness asked him why he committed the act. This second trial ended with jurors finding him guilty in Marion County of six counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of carrying a handgun without a license, records show. Sentencing is set for Jan. 7, 2025.
That attempted murder charge is regarding his younger brother, the sole survivor of the Jan. 24, 2021, tragedy. That teenager managed to escape with gunshot wounds to the leg and arm, leading to investigators finding the murder scene on Adams Street. There, they found six slain victims: Kezzie Childs, 42, Raymond Childs, 42, Elijah Childs, 18, Rita Childs, 13, Kiara Hawkins, 19, and Kiara’s unborn son, identified by authorities as “Baby Boy Hawkins.”
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As authorities have said, the shooting happened amid a spat over whether Childs III could stay the night at his girlfriend’s home.
Childs III’s girlfriend said at the time that the defendant’s father called him to return home, investigators said. He did, but he later came back to his girlfriend’s residence with two bags of clothes, claiming his father kicked him out. Childs III feigned ignorance when the girlfriend got an alert half an hour later about there being a shooting on Adams Street, where his family lived.
The surviving brother detailed to authorities his vantage point on what happened at home. He said that their father asked him to put some water in a bottle, so he went to the bathroom to fill it.
From the probable cause affidavit:
At that point he heard two gunshots. His father got out of bed, ran to the stairs, and said “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.”
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