An Indianapolis man was sentenced to 360 years for murdering six family members in 2021.
A Marion County judge sentenced Raymond Childs III on March 10.
In October 2024, a jury found Childs guilty on all six murder charges, as well as attempted murder and carrying a weapon without a license. The new trial followed a judge declaring a mistrial in Childs’ previous trial on July 23, 2024, due to something uttered during witness evidence.
Childs, 17, shot everyone in a house in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 2021, on the 3500 block of Adams Street, near East 34th Street and North Sherman Drive.
The people listed below were slain by children:
- Raymond Childs Jr., 42, his father
- Kizzie Childs, 42, his stepmother
- Elijah Childs, 18, his brother
- Rita Childs, 13, his sister
- Kiara Hawkins, 19, Elijah’s girlfriend
- Khaos Hawkins, Kiara’s unborn baby boy, who was days away from being delivered
Another sibling, who was 15 years old at the time, allegedly witnessed the shootings and fled the house before being shot twice. He is still alive.
According to his brother, Childs had gotten in trouble for staying up past his curfew and getting into an argument with his parents before shooting the family.
According to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, Childs’ extended family obtained the murder weapon from him and passed it over to police shortly after the murder. Officers then seized possession of the children at a family member’s home.
After the sentencing, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears issued the following statement:
“The defendant brutally murdered six people: his father, stepmother, older brother, younger sister, his older brother’s girlfriend, and her unborn child. There is no penalty that could ever reflect the harm and unimaginable loss caused by the defendant’s actions.
This resolution would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of law enforcement, our trial team, and the victims’ families, who have shown incredible strength and resilience in the face of an unimaginable tragedy.
We should join together to support and honor the families of Raymond Childs Jr., Kezzie Childs, Elijah Childs, Rita Childs, Kiara Hawkins, and Khaos Hawkins and the legacies they leave behind.”
During the sentencing hearing, Childs said, “I lost family just like everyone else did. I’m not no murderer. I’m not no killer.”
Dr. James Henry, a Western Michigan University professor and expert on the impact of trauma on children, described his conversations with Childs during the sentencing hearing.
Henry stated that he investigated many instances of alleged domestic violence by Childs’ father, which Childs observed.
Childs, according to Henry, has below-average intelligence and struggles to articulate his ideas.
Henry testified that Childs was subjected to complicated trauma, recalling times in which he witnessed his mother being physically abused by partners and felt helpless because he could not protect her.
According to Henry, Childs moved in with his father when he was 12 years old and never heard from his mother after that. Henry stated that Childs felt abandoned, lost, and rejected because his mother refused to see him.
However, Childs’ mother testified earlier that his father limited the time she could spend with him because he was very rigid about where his children could go and what they could do.
Henry said Childs told him all the kids at the facility wanted to “get out of there” whenever they turned 18.
Henry diagnosed Childs with post-traumatic stress disorder because she experiences intrusive thoughts and hypervigilance in the face of perceived threat.
The defense requested the judge to examine Childs’ age at the time of the occurrence, as well as mitigating considerations such as Childs’ mental health, PTSD diagnosis, and history of abuse and domestic violence.
The defense also claimed that there was no evidence that Childs intended to kill his family, citing long-term exposure to “complex trauma” as the cause of the murders.