Who is Raymond Ronald Lee Childs? Indiana teen shoots four family members, brother's pregnant girlfriend dead
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: A 17-year-old boy will be tried as an adult after being accused of fatally shooting his father, stepmother, two teenage relatives, and a 19-year-old pregnant woman in the family's Indianapolis home. Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III has been charged with six counts of murder in connection with the slayings, as announced by prosecutors on Thursday, January 28.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office also charged Ronald Childs III with one count of attempted murder and one count of carrying a handgun without a license, according to WTHR. His trial has been set for April. "Our community has suffered another trauma with the tragic loss of this family. Gun violence continues to take and damage too many lives," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said. "Our task now is to bring these allegations before the court. We intend to seek justice for the victims, and to do so in a way that respects the process and all of the circumstances present in this case."
Childs III is being held without bail and the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Attorney Ray Casanova will serve as his public defender and Childs III is to have no contact with eight other people involved in the case.
According to court filings, after an argument with his parents, Childs III reportedly used a handgun and an assault-style rifle to fatally shoot everyone in the household. The victims include his father, Raymond Childs, who was 42 years old, his stepmother, Kezzie, 42, his 13-year-old sister Rita, 18-year-old brother Elijah Childs and Elijah's 19-year-old girlfriend Kiara Hawkins and their unborn child referred to as "Baby Boy Hawkins," who was supposedly due the following week.
Another sibling was also injured by the gunfire but managed to escape the house and run to a neighbor's house for help. According to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, the sibling told responding officers what happened. According to the sibling, Childs III left the house that night without permission. When he got in, his father told him that he would get in trouble later. The sibling was downstairs when he heard two or three gunshots from upstairs, and heard his sister say, "he shot Elijah!"
The sibling said that Childs III came down the stairs and shot both of his parents. The witness was in the laundry room on the floor and when he heard the shooting stop, he ran out of the house through a side door as fast as he could. Childs III chased him and though he fled, Childs III shot his sibling "on the leg," in his arm, and then tried to shoot him in the head, but missed, according to the sibling.
Police also spoke with the girlfriend of Childs III, who told them that he had been at her house earlier in the night of the shooting and that "he got a phone call from his dad telling him to come home." She said he later returned with two bags of clothes and shoes saying that his father had kicked him out. She got an alert on her Citizens app that there had been a shooting on 36th Street and later on Adams Street, where the Childs III household is, and when she asked him if he knew anything about it, he answered in the negative.
The girlfriend then convinced Childs III to go to the crime scene after speaking with his sisters. She said he was nervous to go to the scene and when he went there, he began crying and "acted like a clown." Detectives found Childs III at his relatives' home on Wyatt Drive in Indianapolis. Childs III was taken into custody without incident and was transported to the homicide office before being placed under arrest.