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. I chose to, in a sense, allow her into my life.. Wilhite said Christie's blood pressure had been so low that she suffered a stroke. The circumstances of Becky Babcocks birth were troubled to say the least. [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. 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. ET) on ABC. While Danny and Christie survived, Cheryl, the middle child, was killed in the attack. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Downs then said she pretended to throw her car keys in a bush and the man went to go look for them. Within a few weeks, the kids who had survived were placed in protective custody and were no longer in Steve's care. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. He then opened the driver's side door and shot all 3 of her children. Downs told investigators that she and her. When I see what others have suffered, I think my boss probably saved my life.. She claimed that she was carjacked on a rural road near Springfield by a strange man who shot her and the children. Fearing there could be a gun-wielding killer on the loose, police released information to the public to be on the lookout. She graduated from the University of Oregon. She was white She was not breathing. Suspicions heightened when Downs, upon arrival at the hospital to visit her children, phoned Robert Knickerbocker, a married man and former coworker in Arizona with whom she had been having an affair. "And so the quickest, simplest way was to eliminate the children.". Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. Downs' sentence meant she could not be considered for parole until 2009. Ten days after her sentencing, Downs gave birth to a daughter named Amy Elizabeth. And, Cheryl Lynn, had reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. Wilhite said he was immediately directed to start working to save Christie while another surgeon took Danny. She had been shot in the left forearm, though her wound was not life-threatening. And she's not. It was honestly picture perfect., Diane Downs Children Now: Christie, Danny & Becky Today, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. They told of her obsession with a married man who didn't want her kids around. Anne Jaeger was a local reporter for KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. Christie is now in her forties, according to Tuko, and the accident left her with a speech handicap. Downs was found guilty in June 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Downs was denied parole in December 2008, December 2010, and in 2020. [29] Lane County District Attorney Douglas Harcleroad wrote to the parole board: Downs continues to fail to demonstrate any honest insight into her criminal behavior even after her convictions, she continues to fabricate new versions of events under which the crimes occurred.[29] He also wrote that she alternately refers to her assailants as a bushy-haired stranger, two men wearing ski masks, or drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement officials.[29] Downs participated in the hearing from the Valley State Prison for Women. When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead, he said. Diane Downs always wanted to be a mom, she told Inside Edition in its first-ever episode in 1989. The couple divorced in 1980 over. She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. 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. They have grown up in a very happy home with the Hugis., Both individuals chose to live a life away from the spotlight- they didnt want prying eyes to remind them of the horrors of their past and to haunt them more than it already did. She said she had not seen a male stranger that night. "They have both graduated from college. The girl was later renamed Rebecca Babcock. The tragedy that hit the Downs' kids changed their whole life. She didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.. The outlet also reported Downs as saying that prisoners at the facility started suffering from COVID-19 symptoms in February. It was scary. And I thought to myself, What am I going to do with three shot children?. After that, she was charged with killing her 7-year-old daughter. If youre here because youre curious to know where the surviving children are now, youve come to the right place. In a sense, Diane was her own worst enemy.". You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. And Christie Downs, the only witness to the crime (her younger brother Danny was believed to have been asleep at the time), had suffered a stroke that impaired her speech and prevented her from telling police what she had seen. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. Her blood pressure was non-existent or very low. Offers may be subject to change without notice. According toHeavy, crime author Ann Rule said: "Crime author Ann Rule wrote on her website: "Christie and Danny who somehow survived their gunshot wounds have no contact with Diane. I wanted to relate to her not as a mother, because I had a mother just as somebody who felt the pain and the emptiness that I felt in that time., She wrote back super quickly, Babcock says. Jaeger said. A jury subsequently convicted Downs on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years, according to Glamour. She named one of her children after her dead sister Cheryl. 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. On May 19, 1983, Diane shot the children Cheryl, 7, Christie, 8, and Danny, 3 multiple times at a close range. The girl was later renamed Becky Babcock. I was searching for that blood tie., I never had questions about my biological dad, Babcock continues. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence. There was just a little part of me that felt like I was searching for something else. 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 . Downs was employed by the United States Postal Service, assigned to the mail routes in the city of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Danny is said to be going about his daily routine, but specifics regarding his personal life, such as his spouse and children, have remained a mystery, according to Tuko. On May 19, 1983, Elizabeth Diane Downs and her three small children were shot on a country road near Springfield, Oregon. What did she look like? Becky Babcock was born while Diane was incarcerated. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. I think that's one of the things that-- ended up hurting her case. The surgeon who helped to save Christie's life told ABC News: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead. When Wilhite went to go update Downs on her daughters condition, he said he was surprised by her reaction. My parents wanted us to prosper, to learn and to grow, she told ABC. After being recaptured, she was transferred to a more secure facility. Is Oregon relatively virus-free, or are my children in greater danger than the red circle size suggests? "There were a number of things which didn't make sense, even that first night," Welch said. A mother was driving one night down a rural road in Oregon when her three children, who were asleep in the car, were shot at point-blank range by a stranger in the dark. Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984. She's doing well. Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984. She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years. Police arrested Downs Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings. After Downs trial, Christie and Danny were adopted by Hugi and his wife. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. Sample Page; ; It's very seldom that does my body tingle like that, he added. A break in the case finally came when investigators discovered Downs' secret diaries. "Wouldn't I have made sure they were dead and then cried crocodile tears? But surgeon Steve Wilhite managed to revive Christie after her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and she suffered a stroke. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. In May of that year, the trial against Downs began with yet another inconceivable twist. She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. In 1983, Diane Downs said stranger shot her 3 kids. Whats fascinating, though, is to see how differently her children including the fourth one, who she conceived after her original surviving ones were taken away from her responded to her doings. EUGENE -- It was 27 years ago tomorrow that single mother Elizabeth Diane Downs shot her three children -- killing one and seriously injuring the other two -- on a dark, rural Lane County. And, considering how the emotionally flat blonde responded to the whole experience of the shooting, the trial, and the conviction, it was no surprise that ABCs 20/20 decided to cover the case. She'd been shot in the left forearm, said Welch. They had another sibling, born in the middle, in 1976, Cheryl Lynn, but she didnt survive the shooting. Reporter Ann Jaeger remembers worrying that Downs' pregnancy could affect the way jurors viewed her. Jaeger says Downs told her she had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to her arrest. It was an unthinkable, brutal killing in 1983 that terrified parents around the country. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? [24] While in prison, she earned an associate degree in General Studies. In the frantic scene, hospital employees quickly determined that Cheryl was already dead and that Christie and Danny were clinging to life. Babcock learned who her mother was at age 11, after tricking her babysitter to divulge the name. Shockingly, it was Downs daughter, Christie, who identified her mother in court as the shooter. Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. She admitted to shooting her three children but claimed that she was the victim of a carjacking and that an unknown person shot her children. He and his wife, Joanne, legally adopted the children in 1986. Officers began an inquiry into her peculiar behavior, which included calling her lover from the hospital, her children claiming they were afraid of her, and Christie Ann responding in a fearful manner when her mother visited her in the hospital. While police increasingly suspected Downs, she adamantly denied any involvement when speaking to the media. She stopped the car and asked him what he wanted. And Christie knew that.. On a May night in 1983, the young, divorced letter carrier drove up to the emergency room of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Therefore, they grew up privately and continue to live their adult lives privately. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. DIANE Downs is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own children. It was May 19, 1983, a warm spring night. Although Downs denied having ever owned a .22 caliber gun, two of her former lovers told police they recalled seeing her with one. We just ignored it, Wilhite said. Her first three children with her husband Steve are Stephen "Danny" Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976), and Christie Ann (born 1974). Hospital employees determined that then-7-year-old Cheryl was already dead and that then-8-year-old Christie and then-3-year-old Danny were clinging to life. Here's what we know. Steve Downs, their father, actually left Diane in 1980 because he thought that Danny was the result of an extramarital affair that she had. "Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her 3 children, killing 1, in 1983. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY, March 22 at 9 p.m. Where is Diane Downs today? And as she drove down the road, a man stepped out from the brush, the side of the road, and she stopped the car. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. "Sightseeing when it's pitch black out? By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. 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.".