But what happened to Diane Downs' husband? My childhood was of dreams and we had every opportunity that we wanted. The first two children were Dianes kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. 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. And Christie knew that.. After Downs trial, Christie and Danny were adopted by Hugi and his wife. Two of the kids survived the shooting with life altering injuries, and one of the children died. Thirty-five years ago, Diane Downs, now 64, was convicted of shooting her three children- Danny, Cheryl, and Christie- in Springfield, Oregon. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Diane Downs with her three children Stephen, Christie and Cheryl, Diane Downs is serving a life sentence for the attack on her children, Downs gave birth to a fourth child after her trial in 1984, Christie testified against her mother, pictured. Danielle Peterson/Statesman Journal via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Babcock learned who her mother was at age 11, after tricking her babysitter to divulge the name. Learn about Diane Downs' children now: Christie, Stephen (Danny), and Becky. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. Fearing there could be a gun-wielding killer on the loose, police released information to the public to be on the lookout. All the kids were asleep as it was past 9 o'clock pm and her children were fairly young. And the kids-- one is fatally shot and the other two are seriously injured., Welch said there were a lot of problems with her story and by the end of the interview, we knew that she had been lying'.. The couple divorced in 1980 over Steven's insistence their son, Danny, was the result of an affair and not his biological child. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. The outlet also reported Downs as saying that prisoners at the facility started suffering from COVID-19 symptoms in February. Author Ann Rule wrote the book Small Sacrifices (1987), which detailed Downs' life and murder trial. Do I throw it away? They have both graduated from college. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. I knew my entire life that I was adopted, Babcock tells the show in an exclusive clip obtained by PEOPLE. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? I have used the term verbal vomit when talking' about Diane because she talked a lot. In May of that year, the trial against Downs began with yet another inconceivable twist. The surgeon who helped to save Christie's life told ABC News: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead. I think that's one of the things that-- ended up hurting her case. The stroke Christie Downs suffered impaired her speech and initially prevented her from telling police what she had seen. Danielle Peterson/Statesman Journal via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. She wed Steve Downs in 1973 when she was just 17 and the couple had two children together . On May 19, 1983, Diane Downs and her three children were shot on a rural road in Oregon. READ NEXT: COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass? Despite her difficult start, Becky was adopted and says she had a good childhood. The Diane Downs case is well-known and infamous; she's accused of shooting her three children along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon on May 19, 1983. [12], Diane did not disclose to police that she owned a .22 caliber handgun, but both Steve and Knickerbocker informed authorities that she did. What happened to Diane Downs' children? 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. She's doing well. We found that Diane Downs was emotionally flat. She said she had not seen a male stranger that night. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The child was adopted and was later named Rebecca. 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. Diane Downs is currently serving her sentence of life plus 50 years at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., where she's been since August 1993. Ten days after her sentencing, Downs gave birth to a daughter named Amy Elizabeth. Heavy is withholding that last name and the photos to protect her privacy. Becky Babcock was born while Diane was incarcerated. COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass. DIANE Downs made international headlines for callously shooting three of her children - her fourth wasn't yet born. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. "You cant replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. 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. Diane Downs also gave birth to a fourth child with yet another man; she became pregnant with that daughter, now known as Becky Babcock during the investigation. Her first three children with her husband Steve are 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. When Wilhite went to go update Downs on her daughters condition, he said he was surprised by her reaction. [4] On May 8, 1982, Diane gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Jennifer, while acting as a surrogate. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence. 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. "You cant replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. In another one of her strange media appearances Downs spoke about the pregnancy. I mean, obviously, if she's pregnant, she loves children, right?" And he replied, I want your car. She said, You've got to be kidding, at which time he pushed her aside and reached in with a gun and began shooting the kids-- the three kids.. A jury subsequently convicted Downs on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years, according to Glamour. Christie is now in her forties, according to Tuko, and the accident left her with a speech handicap. "There were a number of things which didn't make sense, even that first night," Welch said. When I see what others have suffered, I think my boss probably saved my life.. Christie Downs, now 44, and her brother, 39, were adopted by the prosecutor in the case. Most of Downs' sentence is to be served consecutively. She described him as a "bushy haired stranger". 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. 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. In a statement to Heavy, Terry Thornton, Deputy Press Secretary of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, stated, Elizabeth Diane Downs, 64, is currently housed at Central California Womens Facility. Would love your thoughts, please comment. And, Cheryl Lynn, had reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. When she got out to talk to this man, he immediately demanded that she give him her car keys, Downs claimed she refused and they got into a physical altercation that resulted in him shooting her in the left arm. [15] Christie Downs, Diane Downs' first child who testified at her trial, suffers from a speech disability. ", 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. "Wouldn't I have made sure they were dead and then cried crocodile tears? When then-prosecutor Fred Hugi asked Christie if she remembered who shot her, Christie Downs replied, "My mom.". 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. The two kids who had survived the attack were placed for adoption and Steve was no able to care for them. 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. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. In 1983, Diane Downs said stranger shot her 3 kids. Downs had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to the start of her trial. Steve Downs, their father, actually left Diane in 1980 because he thought that Danny was the result of an extramarital affair that she had. On May 19, 1983, Diane shot the children Cheryl, 7, Christie, 8, and Danny, 3 multiple times at a close range. Wilhite said he was immediately directed to start working to save Christie while another surgeon took Danny. 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. Downs was a notorious killer in Oregon, convicted in the 1983 shooting of her three children that left one of them dead. Of course, being married, she has also changed her last name. I was afraid of how am I going to handle all this? he added. The surgeon who helped to save Christie's life told ABC News: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead. 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. Her brother Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down but both survived. 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. 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. Rebecca wrote to Downs in her younger years, and has stated that she regrets the contact, regarding her mother as a monster.[20] [21]. Diane Downs Today: Where Is the Convicted Child Killer Now? 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. After high school, she enrolled at Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California, but was expelled after one year for promiscuous behavior and returned to her parents' home in Arizona. Wilhite said he and the hospital staff who worked on the Downs kids on that horrific May night were not surprised by the outcome of the case. Too much for her own good, Welch said. I chose to, in a sense, allow her into my life.. Diane Downs always wanted to be a mom, she told Inside Edition in its first-ever episode in 1989. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, where she met Steve Downs. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 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,. By the time Wilhite arrived, Downs had driven her blood-soaked car to the emergency room. Downs was found guilty in June, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. "She saw the kids as a burden, they were in the way and he wasn't going to join her as long as she had the kids," Welch said. READ MORE: abcn.ws/2W9dzyC In 1983, Diane Downs. Meanwhile, Christie Downs was slowly beginning to tell what she remembered of the shootings. 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. While Danny and Christie survived, Cheryl, the middle child, was killed in the attack. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. 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. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. The first letter I wrote Diane, I must have written 100 times, she says. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, were shot in the May 19, 1983 attack. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. Today, 35-year-old Babcock works as a behavioral health coordinator for children in Salem, Oregon. We believe the motive for the shooting was to get Nick up here to Oregon to be with her. Downs was convicted of shooting her three children: Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon 37 years ago. It's not even known if he still resides in Arizona, where he used to live with Diane and their three kids. I have never changed my story.[29] Her first parole hearing was on December 9, 2008. 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. Downs was found guilty in June, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. In a two-hour 20/20 documentary, Babcock opens up about learning the truth regarding her infamous mom. Investigators later discovered that she had bought the handgun in Arizona. Downs said: "I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much. Unlike her siblings, Becky Babcock has been very public about her mother, granting interviews over the years. 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