INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial in the case of an Indianapolis man accused of fatally shooting five people, including a pregnant woman, after a witness verbally confronted the defendant in front of the jury.
Marion County Superior Judge Chris Miller declared the mistrial Tuesday in the trial of Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III, who faces six counts of murder in the January 2021 slayings in an Indianapolis home.
Childs, 20, was arrested a day after the attack and accused of killing his father, stepmother, two teenage relatives, a heavily pregnant young woman and her unborn son.
The mistrial came after a key witness in the case, Elanso Valez, testified that in the hours after the killings, he had picked up Childs and drove him around Indianapolis. He said Childs later covered his eyes and wept while laying on a bed at Valez’s home in Plainfield, just west of Indianapolis.
“Y’all remember that?” Valez asked Childs from the witness stand, WXIN-TV reported.
The defense and prosecution teams quickly sought to cut Valez off, and the judge tried to intercede from the bench, but Valez continued, asking: “Why did you do it, Raymond?”
The judge admonished Valez for his comments in front of the jurors and sent them from the courtroom so he could speak with attorneys and then each juror individually.
Miller then declared a mistrial, saying he’s “firmly convinced that Mr. Childs cannot get a fair trial.” He set a status conference for Monday with the attorneys.
The killings followed an argument over Childs, who was 17 at the time, staying out late, according to court records. Prosecutors said Childs methodically went from room-to-room, shooting the victims.
The attack killed Childs’ father, Raymond Childs Jr., 42; his stepmother, Kezzie Childs, 42; the couple’s daughter, Rita Childs, 13; son Elijah Childs, 18; and Elijah’s 19-year-old girlfriend Kiara Hawkins, who died at a hospital along with her unborn son.
Childs’ 15-year-old brother also was shot but survived after fleeing the house to escape the gunfire.
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