Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III (WTHR/YouTube).
A mistrial was declared on Tuesday for an Indiana man accused of killing six people, including his parents, two siblings, a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, after an argument with his father for leaving the house without permission.
Marion County Superior Judge Chris Miller declared the mistrial in the case of Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III after a witness improperly asked the defendant, “Why did you do it, Raymond?” local Fox affiliate WXIN reported.
After a recess, the judge admonished the witness, saying, “Your behavior has caused some concerns. Your behavior is inappropriate,” the station reported.
Childs, who was 17 years old at the time, faces murder charges in the 2021 deaths of his parents, Raymond Childs II and Kezzie Childs, both 42; the defendant’s sister, Rita Childs, 13; his brother, Elijah Childs, 18; Elijah’s girlfriend, Kiara Hawkins, 19; and her unborn baby boy who had been full term and near birth.
He also faces a charge of attempted murder for trying to kill his 15-year-old brother, who survived getting shot after fleeing the house and being chased down by his older brother, court documents said.
The massacre happened on Jan. 24, 2021, in a home on North Adams Street in Indianapolis, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, responding to a call of a person shot at 3:43 a.m., found the surviving brother on the porch of a residence, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
At the hospital, when an officer asked him who shot him, he said, “Raymond Ronald Lee Childs, the third,” court documents said. When medical staff asked the boy where his parents were, he told them, “He shot them. I think they’re dead,” the probable cause affidavit said.
When police arrived at the two-story home, they found five people shot. Four were declared dead at the scene. A pregnant woman, later identified as Hawkins, was taken to a hospital where she and her unborn boy were declared dead, according to the document.
As homicide investigation was launched and crime scene specialists were called, detectives followed up with the wounded boy at the hospital. He told them his brother had gotten in trouble that night for leaving the house without permission, and when he got home, his father told him he would be in trouble later, the affidavit said.
The younger brother told detectives about how he ran out of the after hearing two or three gunshots from upstairs and his sister saying, “He shot Elijah!” before Childs came down the stairs and shot his parents, court documents said the boy told investigators.
The boy ran outside, but his brother chased him down, according to documents.
“I can give you forty dollars, please don’t kill me,” the boy pleaded to his brother, according to court documents. “He just looked at me and then he shot me on the leg. I fell. He shot me in my arm. And then he tried to shoot me in my head but missed, I guess.”
Police quickly tracked Childs down at a relative’s home, where he was arrested and ultimately charged as an adult.
“Not only did so many people lose their lives, but you think about that family and what they were anticipating — the baby was due in a week,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a news conference when he announced the charges.
A status conference in the case is set for Monday, the online court docket shows, to determine the next steps.
Law&Crime’s Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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