1998, A school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, kills five. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shoot their classmates and teachers in Jonesboro, Arkansas on March 24, 1998. Golden, the younger of the two boys, asked to be excused from his class, pulled a fire alarm and then ran to join Johnson in a wooded area 100 yards away from the school’s gym. As the students streamed out of the building, Johnson and Golden opened fire and killed four students and a teacher. Ten other children were wounded. The two boys were caught soon afterward. In their possession were thirteen fully loaded firearms, including three semi-automatic rifles, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Their stolen van had a stockpile of supplies as well as a crossbow and several hunting knives. All of the weapons were taken from the Golden family’s personal arsenal. Both of the boys had been raised around guns. Andrew Golden belonged to a local gun club and sometimes competed in shooting contests. Because Johnson and Golden were thirteen and eleven, they could not be charged as adults in Arkansas. They were both adjudicated as delinquent and sent to reform institutes. They were to be released when they turned 18, as they could legally no longer be housed with minors, but Arkansas bought a facility in 1999 that enabled the state to keep the boys in custody until their 21st birthdays. Johnson was freed in 2005, but later returned to prison for other charges; Golden was released in 2007 and died in 2019. Arkansas changed its laws following the Jonesboro tragedy so that child murderers can be imprisoned past age 21. #TrueCrime, #Murder, #Prison,

1987 Torture chamber uncovered in Philadelphia. Responding to a 911 call, police raid the Philadelphia home of Gary Heidnik and find an appalling crime scene. In the basement of Heidnik’s dilapidated house is a veritable torture chamber where three naked women were found chained to a sewer pipe. A fourth woman, Josefina Rivera, had escaped and called police. Gary Heidnik was a former mental patient and sex offender who had managed to become a wealthy stock investor. He owned a Rolls Royce and beat Uncle Sam on his income taxes by making himself the bishop of his own church. The sign on the front of his house read, “United Church of the Ministries of God.” One room in his house was partially wallpapered with money. At the end of 1986, Heidnik decided to create his own harem and began kidnapping women off the streets of Philadelphia. Six women were kidnapped and held in Heidnik’s dungeon. All were raped and tortured while the others were forced to watch. He killed one of the women by putting her in a pit, filling it with water and putting a live electrical wire into the water. Another of the women was killed when Heidnik let her starve to death while chained to the wall. In perhaps the most grisly and horrid episode of the entire incident, Heidnik dismembered one of his victims, cooking parts of her body and feeding it to his other captives. The women who were found alive recovered after being treated for dehydration and malnutrition. Although Heidnik was clearly mentally disturbed, he was found guilty and convicted of murder on July 1, 1988. He received a death sentence, and was executed on July 6, 1999. Heidnik was one of the inspirations for the Buffalo Bill character in Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs. #TrueCrime #Murder, #Torture, #Disturbed, #Convicted, #Guilty, #Executed, #Death,

Why Do Teens Kill? These Four Teenage Girls Committed a Brutal Murder Shanda Sharer was just your ordinary pre-teen, but her life was changed forever when she was brutally murdered by three older teenage girls. It’s hard to believe that young girls are capable of this type of behavior, but this case proves that they really are. It also shows that crowd mentality is very real. It’s hard to believe that any one of these girls wanted to go along with the plan, but somehow, the evening’s events transpired without any protest Not only did they murder Shanda Sharer, but they brutally tortured her before putting an end to her life. At the tender age of 11, Shanda Sharer didn’t even have a chance for her life to begin. Her life was unfairly taken from her, way too soon. How did all this happen? Keep reading to find out. About Shanda Sharer Shanda was a bubbly pre-teen with her whole life ahead of her. She was someone that everybody wanted to be friends with. But one day she got into a fight at school with a 14-year-old girl named Amanda. And this is where the entire story begins. The two were put in detention together and made up quickly. It wasn’t long before they became best friends. But Shanda’s mom wasn’t too happy about this new friendship, as Shanda’s grades started slipping, and she started getting into more trouble at school. Soon the pair started to become romantically involved. Although this wasn’t made clear to Shanda’s mother at the time, she would soon find out. It All Started at a School Dance The events all started at a school dance that Shanda attended with her new girlfriend Amanda. Unfortunately, Amanda’s ex wasn’t too happy about the fact that she was dating someone else. Melinda Loveless was the name of her ex, who decided to pick a fight with Shanda that evening. Both Amanda and Melinda were a few years older than Shanda, and Melinda started to torment Shanda, saying she wanted to kill her. Amanda got between them and told Melinda to calm down, so the events didn’t escalate too badly that night. But it seemed that revenge was brewing in Melinda’s mind. It Turned Out to Be More Than Just Friendship One day, Shanda’s mom, Jackie, found love letters written between Amanda and Shanda. She was worried about how sexually explicit the content of the letters was. Especially because her little girl was only 11 years old. That’s quite a young age to become romantically involved. Jackie decided she wanted to send her daughter to another school to split the two girls up. Shanda was getting into trouble more and her mother didn’t like the direction the situation was going towards. Shanda was sent to a catholic school and started to enjoy it. Although the two girls were now at separate schools, they continued to send love letters to one another. But it seemed as if Shanda was less responsive now than she had been when they were at the same school. How Was Shanda Sharer Abducted? It was early evening on the 10th of June, 1992, when four girls rocked up outside of Shanda’s house. Their names were Melinda Loveless (Amanda’s ex), Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Toni Lawrence. These girls had a plan for Shanda, and it all began with Hope and Toni knocking on Shanda’s front door. When Shanda opened the door, she was told that Amanda wanted to talk to her and they would take her to her girlfriend. She said her dad and stepmom were still awake, but that they should come back later because she wanted to see Amanda. What she didn’t know, was that this was some kind of twisted revenge plot put together by Amanda’s ex, Melinda Loveless. Events at the Witches Castle The girls left and came back at 12:30 am in the dark of night as they were certain Shanda’s dad and stepmom would be asleep by then. Hope and Laurie marched up to the door to fetch Shanda, while Melinda and Toni stayed in the car. They hid under a blanket holding a knife. Just the sort of surprise that Shanda would not be expecting. When Shanda got into the car, Melinda popped out and threatened Shanda with the knife. They then took her to the Witch’s Castle in the woods. There they tied her hands and feet and threatened her with cutting all her hair off. They then made a fire, it’s not entirely clear why, but it can be assumed it was either for ambiance or to stave off the cold. Leaving the Witch’s Castle The girls were worried that the fire may have drawn attention to them, so they decided to leave the Witch’s Castle. They drove around aimlessly for a while, all unsure of what they were going to do next. Eventually, they ended up in the forest that was located behind Laurie’s house. This seemed like a quiet place for them to go about their evil deeds. Laurie and Melinda took Shanda into the woods while Toni and Hope remained in the car. The two girls proceeded to take off all of Shanda’s clothes, and they started beating her. Melinda even tried to cut Shanda’s throat, but it appeared that the knife was too blunt. It was then that Hope decided to join them in the woods. It seemed that she wanted to be a part of all the action. A Seeming End to the Torture Now that Hope had joined Laurie and Melinda in the woods, they had an extra set of hands to help them. Hope was holding Shanda down, while Laurie and Melinda took turns to stab Shanda. They then strangled young Shanda until they were sure she was unconscious before putting her body into the back of the car. It’s almost unbelievable that girls of this age would be capable of such a gruesome murder, but there’s a lot more to each of these girls than first meets the eye. Each of them had lived very difficult lives, not that anything aids as an excuse for the terrible events that unfolded that night. All About Melinda Loveless As you can imagine, Melinda Loveless didn’t come from a healthy, loving, and balanced home. Melinda’s father, Larry Loveless, was an army veteran from the Vietnam War. He had difficulty getting and holding down a job and spent all the money he did make on guns and motorcycles. Which is not a very responsible way for any father to behave. Larry was also an abusive drunk and was known to beat his wife in front of their children. He and Marjorie (Melinda’s mother) had an open relationship, and would often bring other couples home from the bar. They were a promiscuous couple, to say the least. Larry was also known for lending out his wife to his friends. Whether this was out of her own will or forced upon her is not known. More About the Life of Melinda Loveless Marjorie was beaten badly and often, sometimes even having to be hospitalized for her injuries. Because of this, she became increasingly depressed and tried to take her own life many times. Unfortunately, Larry didn’t keep his abusive behavior to only his wife, it seemed he was willing to abuse everyone and anyone he had any kind of power over. He was abusive toward his three young daughters too. Even going as far as molesting them. Melinda claimed that she shared a bed with her father until she was 14, which was when her parents finally got divorced and her father moved out of state. Leaving his family to live in peace for the very first time. But it’s easy to see how their tragic past could have tormented each of them a great deal. Melinda Loveless Continued to Have a Difficult Life As a young teenager, Melinda struggled badly with depression and she got into fights at school on a regular basis. This is not surprising considering the level of violence that she had to endure at home. Yet still, nobody could have ever predicted how far she would take her violence with Shanda. Melinda was having trouble at school because there was so much else going on in her life. She ended up being held back a year to repeat her grade. She was also very open about being gay, which was not very common for a young girl living in a small town in the ‘90s. Melinda was a mere 16 years old when she was involved with Shanda’s murder. Who Was Laurie Tackett? Mary Laurine “Laurie” Tackett was raised in a strict Christian household in Madison. Both her parents were abusive and child services had been to their house on numerous occasions. Laurie started to self-harm as a young teen, landing herself in hospital many times. Eventually, she was diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder after confessing that she’d had hallucinations ever since she was a child. After being released from the hospital, Laurie ran away from home and went to live with friends in Madison. That is where she met Melinda, and after becoming inseparable friends, she moved to New Albany with Melinda. Laurie was the oldest of the girls, being 17 when she assisted in the murder of Shanda Sharer. Who Was Hope Rippey? Hope also made friends with Laurie in Madison. Her parents (who were much more involved in her life than the rest of the girls), weren’t happy about the two spending time together as they could tell that Laurie was not a good influence. Their daughter was precious to them, and they didn’t want bad things to come her way simply because of the people she was hanging out with. But they had no idea just how bad things would get. Just like the other two girls, Hope was a self-harmer and identified as gay. She was also the only one in the group that was friends with Toni. The two had been very close friends from a young age. She was just 15 years old when she assisted in the murder of Shanda Sharer. Who Was Toni Lawrence? Toni was a little different from the rest as she was close friends with Hope, but didn’t know the other two very well. There were reports that stated that Toni was abused by a relative at the tender age of nine. She was also raped by a teenage boy at the age of 14, and there was no justice as the police simply asked the boy to stay away from her. Although Toni started going to counseling after being raped, she stopped going after a short while. This event seemed to be a turning point, changing her into a promiscuous young teenager who engaged in self-harm and even attempted to end her own life when she was only in eighth grade. When she was involved with Shanda Sharer’s murder she was just 15 years old. What Was the Original Plan? The girls were planning on attending a rock concert on the 10th of June, the night of Shanda’s murder. Toni had never even met Laurie and Melinda, but she was solemn friends with Hope so she was invited along for the ride. When Toni got into the car, Laurie asked Hope, “did you tell her yet?” Laurie responded with, “tell her what?” Laurie told Toni, “we’re going to kill a girl tonight!” Of course, Toni thought it was some sort of strange joke, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Then they drove to New Albany to pick up Melinda. When Melinda came walking out of her house, she was carrying a very large kitchen knife. She got in the car excitedly and told the girls she wanted to give this Shanda girl a scare. The Three Girls Were Just Along for the Ride Out of all of the girls, Melinda was the only one who had ever met Shanda. So when Melinda said she wanted to give the young girl a scare, the others were just going along for the ride. It’s hard to imagine how it escalated so quickly with none of the girls attempting to stop the events of that evening. When the four arrived at Shanda’s house for the first time, Melinda was hiding on the floor of the car as she knew that Shanda would not get in the car if she knew Melinda was there. Shanda had never actually met Toni or Hope before, but she agreed to go along with them in the hopes of seeing her girlfriend Amanda. Unfortunately, the group had other plans for her. Toni Started to Have Her Suspicions When Shanda told the two girls to come back later, they hopped in the car and all headed to the rock concert they had been planning on attending that night. When it was over, they started to make their way back to Shanda’s house. It was then that Toni started to feel uncomfortable. At this point, Toni started to feel concerned over the events that were going to unfold. Melinda kept talking about how excited she was to kill Shanda, although she kept correcting herself, saying that she just wanted to scare the girl. Toni didn’t like this very much, and because of it, refused to go back to Shanda’s door to lure her to the car. An Awful Surprise for Shanda Shanda excitedly made her way toward the car as she looked forward to seeing her girlfriend. But when she was in the car, Melinda popped up and grabbed her hair, all while holding a knife to her throat. While Shanda begged Melinda not to hurt her, Melinda coldly said “shut up, b***h!” They then headed to the Witch’s Castle, where Laurie and Melinda started to tie her up. They kept telling her that the place was full of dead people to scare her as if their actions weren’t enough to terrify the young girl. Laurie then lit a t-shirt on fire and told Shanda that soon she would be the one burning. Although none of the girls were likely to believe this at the time, it would turn out to be true. What Happened Next? Next, the girls took Shanda to the woods. There Laurie and Melinda stabbed her multiple times and strangled her until she was unconscious. They then took her body and put it in the trunk of the car, telling the other girls that she was dead. This was something they probably believed to be true at the time. When they heard sounds coming from the trunk of the car, they realized she must still be alive. Laurie got out of the car and stabbed her a few more times until Shanda was completely silent. That was how poor 11-year-old Shanda was brutally tortured. It’s hard to even imagine the pain she must have endured that night. What Did the Girls Do After Committing Murder? Laurie and Melinda then dropped Hope and Toni off, before driving around with Shanda in the trunk of their car. Neither of them remember how long they were driving before they picked up Toni and Hope again. With events so gruesome, it’s not hard to believe that the entire night went by in a blur. Laurie and Melinda then wanted to show the other two girls what they had done to Shanda. Although Toni refused to look, Hope did. She then sprayed the body with Windex and said, “You’re not looking so hot now, are you?” What inspired this kind of treatment for a girl she had never even met before that night is incomprehensible. The Final Moments of Shanda’s Life The girls pulled up to a local gas station and Toni bought a bottle of Pepsi. That seemed to give Laurie an idea as she snatched the bottle, emptied it, and filled it with gasoline. They all hopped in the car and drove down a country lane surrounded by fields. Laurie and Hope hoisted the still barely alive Shanda out of the boot and dumped her body. When the body was in the middle of a field, Laurie poured gasoline on Shanda and set her alight. All four girls then went to McDonald’s. Toni, who never wanted to go along with the idea at all was absolutely hysterical - understandably. It had been a dramatic evening filled with incredibly dark activities. One’s that all the girls would come to regret. Melinda Decided to Contact Her Ex Melinda and Laurie decided it was time for Hope and Toni to go home. They dropped them off and then decided to call Melinda’s ex, Amanda. Melinda told Amanda about what they had done, but Amanda didn’t believe it. She agreed to meet up with Melinda anyway to find out what was going on. They picked Amanda up and took her to Melinda’s house, where Melinda broke down and told Amanda everything. Amanda couldn’t believe what she was being told, so Melinda showed her the trunk of the car which contained pools of blood, bloody handprints, long dark strands of hair, and one of Shanda’s socks. The Body Was Found Almost Instantly While the girls had been chowing down burgers at McDonald’s, two brothers had been out hunting quail in the same vicinity that the girls had dumped the body. They stumbled across Shanda’s burnt remains and immediately called the cops. What an unexpected and traumatic find during your early morning hunting session. What the cops realized is that the body wasn’t only horribly burnt and mutilated but it had been placed in a sexual position. This caused them to believe that the young girl had been molested before her death as well. Of course, in the morning Shanda’s dad noticed she was missing and immediately called the cops to report his missing daughter. Toni Stepped Forward The very next day, Toni walked into the police station with her dad to speak to a detective. She was in hysterics but told the cops absolutely everything about the murder that she never intended to be a part of. This would help her in the long run, but she got off far from scot-free. She told the cops that the girl’s name was Shanda and that she was either 12 or 13. She didn’t remember the times that all these events took place, but she could tell the cops exactly what happened in each location. Leading them through the story from picking Shanda up, going to the Witch’s Castle, heading to the woods behind Laurie’s house, going to the gas station, and then the open field where the cops had found a body that very morning. Arrests and Sentencing Although the girls were teenagers, they were all tried as adults. Because every single one of the girls admitted guilt, they managed to avoid the death penalty. Laurie and Melinda were given double life sentences, while Hope was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Toni however, got out with only a 20-year sentence. None of the girls served their full sentences, Toni and Hope even managed to get out after just a couple of years. They went on parole before being set free for good. Many of the girls went on to change their names, no longer wanting to be tied to their criminal past. But for Shanda, a night of gruesome torture at the hands of cruel teenagers would be her last day on earth. Do you think that justice was served for this horrific crime? #TrueCrime #Murder #Death #Crime

The Story Of Adriana Olivia Kuch: On February 1st, 2023, she was beaten unconscious in the school hallway by a group of 4 older girls, one of whom struck her with a heavy plastic water bottle so hard the cap flew off. At least one of the girls even blamed her for the assault! They filmed the whole thing and posted it to Tiktok. By the end of the assault, Adriana was unconscious, bruised, bloodied, and humiliated. She should have been transported to a hospital, but the school nurse decided not to do so, and instead allowed her to call her father once she came to. Adriana and her father went straight to a police station to file a police report on the attack that she had suffered. But the worst part was yet to come. Once they got home, she discovered the video, which had gone viral. In the comments section, there were vile statements and comments directed towards her. The video was taken down, but the attackers quickly reuploaded it, along with screenshots of the video and the comments that were made. It took a massive toll on her mental health, and roughly 36 hours later, she hanged herself in a closet. Adriana Kuch died by suicide at midnight on February 3rd, and by the time she was discovered some six hours later, her body was likely already showing signs of rigor mortis. Police eventually charged the attackers with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. But the school’s response shocked everyone. They decided to blame her suicide on drugs and family issues, which was practically a slap in the face to her father. At her closed casket wake, there were multiple instances where a few stupid students decided to mock her family, and it took a call to the police to get them removed. This led to her funeral being cancelled, her body was cremated and as a result of this, she would never get a dignified memorial. By now, her case had gained national attention, and outlets such as CNN, NBC and even Fox were covering the development of the story. Reporters were stationed at strategic locations, such as outside the funeral home. When they interviewed her friends and family, they said that Adriana was a kind person at her heart, and she would never get into fights with anyone. In fact, she had even saved the life of a 9 year old girl during the summer of 2022, when she jumped into a swimming pool and lifted the girl up and out of the water when she was struggling to swim. The mother of the nine year old, when interviewed, revealed tearfully that she hadn't told her daughter about Adriana’s death at that time, and we will never know how she reacted to the tragic news. One year on, Adriana’s parents filed a formal lawsuit alleging wrongful death and gross negligence. They are seeking unspecified damages. As of today, the suit is still pending. Adriana Olivia Kuch 3/11/2008 - 2/3/2023 Rest in Paradise #TrueCrime,

'They watched her die': Teen dies hours after arriving at juvenile detention center in front of employees who did nothing, lawsuit says. Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, Georgia . Alexis Marie Sluder. A 16-year-old runaway died after overdosing on methamphetamine in a youth detention center in Georgia hours after she was arrested, and authorities did nothing as they watched her convulse, writhe in pain and cry for help until it was too late, her family alleges in a lawsuit filed this week. Alexis Marie Sluder died in 2022 at the Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, according to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Georgia. Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta. “Instead of monitoring her health and safety, they watched her die,” said Sam Harton, the family’s lawyer, in a news conference . “No one even picked up the phone to call 911 until after Alexis stopped breathing.” Related Coverage: The lawsuit names five Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice employees as defendants, including an officer, a cadet, a sergeant, a nurse, and the facility’s director. It also names Augusta University, the medical and mental health services provider for juvenile detainees at the facility. In a statement , the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said it “is committed to the well-being and safety of the individuals entrusted to our care. We remain deeply saddened by this tragic incident and continue to hold heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the family of the deceased.” A media representative for Augusta University did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The events leading to Sluder’s death began after her arrest for possession of methamphetamine and shoplifting on Aug. 26, 2022, court documents said. She was issued a ticket and jailed before being transferred to Elbert, where she was booked at 9 p.m. Upon booking, Gilmer County Sgt. Sharon Ellis “failed to note that methamphetamine or any other foreign substance was found on Alexis Sluder’s person,” even though she had noted she saw a white substance on the police vehicle seat next to Sluder earlier, the lawsuit said. Notes in her medical screening indicated Sluder had “medical problems,” had previously been hospitalized, and was taking medication. Sluder had depression, bipolar anxiety, and schizophrenia, the lawsuit said. In her mental health screening, when asked why she was at the facility, Sluder said, “because I ran away.” She also said she had attempted suicide, had recently been sexually abused, had been hospitalized for an overdose the previous month and “sometimes sees shadow people that are not there,” court documents said. Her answers warranted four “Warning” and four “Caution” notations. Sluder’s answers about drug and alcohol use were “explicitly excluded from the ‘Warning’ and ‘Caution’ totals,” court documents said. Sluder told authorities that just before she was about to be arrested before arriving at the facility, she “ate the meth she had on her when the cops came and she realized she might be going to jail” and “she had taken other unknown items earlier in the day as she felt suicidal over the last 3 weeks and currently feels this way,” court documents said. Ellis declined to take her to the hospital, saying she wasn’t permitted to because she had already released her into the custody of the state of Georgia, “so she no longer had jurisdiction to transport Alexis Sluder,” court documents said. Instead, Sluder was placed in a room equipped with a live video feed where she could be constantly monitored. In her cell, Sluder began to suffer a medical emergency. She convulsed, writhed in pain, thrashed about, sweated profusely, and breathed heavily. The overdose symptoms lasted over four hours, court documents said. Despite an employee, Rebecka Phillips, being with Sluder the entire time, a second employee, Maveis Brooks, being with her intermittently, and Cadet Russell Ballard watching via the video feed from a control room, no one did anything, the lawsuit alleges. During the final two hours of the medical emergency, Sluder lay on the ground, nearly motionless. At one point, Sluder even reached out and grasped toward the ankle of Phillips, who stood over her, watched, and did nothing to help her, court documents said. At another point, Sluder turned to the camera and said, “Someone please help me. I took something,” the lawsuit alleges. The defendants talked about the girl’s condition but didn’t act, saying they did not have enough officers on staff to take her to a hospital without violating a policy, court documents said. “There is no policy set forth by the State of Georgia, the Department of Justice, and the Dalton RYDC preventing State employees from calling 9-1-1 or another emergency medical services to transport juveniles to the hospital in a medical emergency,” the lawsuit said. “Alexis Sluder was not suspected of a violent crime. Alexis Sluder was not arrested for a violent crime. There was no legitimate penological interest in keeping Alexis Sluder from going to the hospital.” At 3:12 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, Phillips advised over the radio that Sluder “was not breathing properly,” the lawsuit said. Brooks went to the cell, assessed Sluder and advised Ballard in the control room to call 911. “Soon after Sergeant Maveis Brooks advised Defendant Cadet Ballard to call 9-1-1, Alexis Sluder stopped breathing,” court documents said. The 911 call was made, and Brooks and Phillips began lifesaving measures, but Sluder was pronounced dead from methamphetamine toxicity at 4:26 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, court documents said. The five employees were terminated from their jobs stemming from the death. They were indicted on charges of cruelty to children a year later, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement . Their cases are pending. The parents have shared their pain over the death of their daughter, who once won an award for “Prettiest Smile,” enjoyed playing softball and was set to graduate from Gilmer High School this year. Instead, her school reserved a seat for her at the ceremony on May 24, where she graduated posthumously. “I didn’t get to watch her pick out her first car, go to the prom, or graduate this past year with her friends,” her mother, Melanie Hogan Sluder, said in a statement . “I am lost without her, and not a minute goes by that I don’t think about her and what she would be doing.” #TrueCrime

1918 Nebraska serial killer poisons her first victim. Della Sorenson kills the first of her seven victims in rural Nebraska by poisoning her sister-in-law’s infant daughter, Viola Cooper. Over the next seven years, friends, relatives, and acquaintances of Sorenson died under mysterious circumstances before anyone finally realized that it had to be more than a coincidence. Two years after little Viola met her demise, Wilhelmina Weldam, Sorenson’s mother-in-law, was poisoned. Sorenson then went after her own family, killing her daughter, Minnie, and husband, Joe, over a two-week period in September. Waiting only four months before marrying again, Sorenson then settled in Dannebrog, Neb. In August 1922, her former sister-in-law came to visit with another infant, four-month-old Clifford. Just as she had done with Viola, Sorenson poisoned the poor child with a piece of candy. The unfortunate Mrs. Cooper, still oblivious to what was happening, came back again in October to visit with yet another child. This time, Sorenson’s poison didn’t work. Early in 1923, Sorenson killed her own daughter, Delia, on her first birthday. When Sorenson’s friend brought her infant daughter for a visit only a week later, the tiny infant was also poisoned. After an attempt on Sorenson’s second husband’s life left him sick–but not dead–authorities began to think that there might be a connection between these series of deaths. Finally, in 1925, Sorenson was arrested when she made an unsuccessful attempt at killing two children in the neighborhood with poisoned cookies. She confessed to the crimes, saying, “I like to attend funerals. I’m happy when someone is dying.” Sentiments like this convinced doctors that Sorenson was schizophrenic, and she was committed to the state mental asylum. #TrueCrime

A teenaged mother gives birth and murders her baby at the prom. Eighteen-year-old Melissa Drexler gives birth to a baby boy in the bathroom stall at an Aberdeen Township banquet hall in New Jersey during her high school prom. Maintenance workers called to clean up blood found in the stall discover a bag in the garbage with her dead baby inside. An autopsy later revealed that the baby had been born alive but had been strangled to death. Drexler’s case drew national attention and outrage, especially since she returned to the dance floor after killing her newborn baby. It was also somewhat curious that she had managed to conceal her pregnancy from everyone she knew. After arriving at the Lacey Township High School prom with her friends, Drexler immediately went to the women’s bathroom. With her unsuspecting friends outside the stall, she gave birth to her baby boy in about 20 or 30 minutes. She reportedly told her friend, “Go tell the boys I’ll be right out.” Apparently, Drexler cut the umbilical cord on the edge of a metal sanitary napkin box in the stall. Blood tests revealed that she had no trace of drugs or alcohol in her system. Prosecutors in Monmouth County initially charged Drexler with murder, but she pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter on August 21, 1998. Telling the court that she was remorseful for her actions, on October 29 the teary-eyed girl was sentenced to 15 years in prison with the possibility of parole in three years. She was released on parole after 37 months on November 26, 2001. #TrueCrime

1997 NYC teacher Jonathan Levin is tortured and killed by his former student. Jonathan Levin, a popular 31-year-old English teacher, is stabbed and shot to death in his Upper West Side apartment in New York City. The son of Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin, Jonathan was known by many to be wealthy. When he did not show up for work, investigators searched his apartment and found his lifeless body bound to a chair with duct tape. Levin’s bankcard was missing from his wallet, and $800 had been removed from his account around the time that he was killed. Police learned from Levin’s answering machine tape that Corey Arthur, a former student in Levin’s remedial English class at William H. Taft High School in the Bronx, called Levin on May 30 to arrange a meeting. Apparently, Arthur and his accomplice, Montoun Hart, tortured Levin with a kitchen knife in order to get him to tell them his debit card code. They turned on the vacuum cleaner and stereo to cover up his screams. Arthur, arrested a week after the murders, first claimed that he had been at Levin’s apartment smoking crack when two other men came in and killed him. However, his story lost its credibility at trial when his fingerprints were found on the duct tape. Even still, Arthur denied being the one who pulled the trigger of the fatal shot. Arthur was found guilty of second-degree murder and received 25 years to life in prison. Hart, despite his 11-page signed confession, was acquitted after convincing jurors that the confession had been coerced out of him when he was drunk. #TrueCrime

Rochelle Gluskoter (April 10, 1940 - February 15, 1946) Rochelle passed away when she was 5 years old. She was sadly kidnapped from her home in Los Angeles, California as she was playing in her front yard. The abductor, who is believed to have been a stranger, drove up and lured Rochelle into his or her car, and she was sadly never seen again, despite the city's efforts to find her. A year later, her skeleton was discovered, and she was identified by the dress that she had been wearing when she went missing. Sadly, Rochelle's murder remains unsolved. Rochelle was a bright, happy, playful, and loving little girl, who is greatly missed by her family. Rest in peace, Rochelle! #TrueCrime

At 15, Danielle Vaughan was left in the care of her mother’s friend, who was then a 50 year old man. They became romantically involved, Danielle got pregnant, and Vaughan was a mother by the time she was 17. They married and eventually had four children. Their youngest was named Dennis. Dennis Vaughan Jr. was born in 2014, the fourth of Danielle Vaughan children. Vaughan, now 33, has led a life marred by abuse. She remembered her mother, Sherry Connor, as erratic and prone to violent outbursts. Danielle’s husband grew controlling and violent. Both of them started using drugs. Dennis Sr. has been repeatedly arrested for drugs. In 2016, police raided the family’s Laconia home, arresting Dennis Sr. — and Vaughan lost custody of her four children. “That was the beginning of a horrible four years,” she said, but she was willing to move mountains to get her children back. She kicked heroin. She went to her appointments. She found stable housing, away from Dennis Sr. She worked to piece together a life and prove she could care for her children. In the summer of 2017, a court granted custody of the four children to Vaughan’s mother, Sherry. Vaughan had reservations about the arrangement, after the way she had grown up. “I knew my mom had that mean bone in her body,” she said. But she wanted to believe she would love and care for her grandchildren. Before long, Vaughan said, she started noticing the children had bruises on their wrists or their ears. One of the children was hospitalized with a concussion. Connor would always have an explanation, Vaughan said. Then during one visit, Vaughan noticed finger-shaped bruises around her children’s chins. “I knew those bruises. I knew what they were from.” Vaughan said her mother used to grab her by the chin, almost lifting her off the floor as she yelled, “Now you look at me.” All the children were too skinny, Vaughan said. On a visit to Connor’s home for Christmas in 2018, she discovered their deplorable living conditions. Connor’s home in Laconia was vile, Vaughan said, with human and dog feces on the floor. She kept the refrigerator and cabinets locked, so the children — 4-year-old Dennis and the three older children — couldn’t get food or drinks themselves. When they got too thirsty, Vaughan said, they drank out of the toilet — and were punished for it. They used a bucket to go to the bathroom. After that visit, Vaughan figures she called DCYF every day. But the division screened out her reports, or the cases were closed as “unfounded,” she said, meaning an investigation did not turn up abuse or neglect. One day, Vaughan got a voicemail from her mother, who seemed to have dialed by mistake. Vaughan could hear a hand smacking flesh, her third-oldest child screaming, and her mother screaming back. “I hate you, you dirty dog,” she screamed, cursing at the 8-year-old, Vaughan remembered. “I can’t wait for someone to take you away.” Vaughan made another report, she said. In July 2019, Vaughan said, her mother duct-taped that same child to a chair and left him overnight in an Epsom campground. Other people in the campground called police. DCYF petitioned a court to remove the child from Connor on an emergency basis, and returned him to Vaughan. Vaughan said she is still not clear about why the division removed only one of her children from Connor’s care in the summer of 2019 — but did not move to get her other three children, including Dennis Jr., out of Connor’s home. By this time, Vaughan said she was calling for help multiple times a day. She called the Office of the Child Advocate, an ombudsman’s office, police, every authority she could think of. She was frantic. “I was begging to put them anywhere else but her house,” Vaughan said. On Christmas Eve 2019, Vaughan went into work early for her cleaning job at Elliot Hospital. She was there less than an hour that Tuesday morning when a state police sergeant asked to talk to her. She felt a knot in her stomach as they walked into an empty room. “He looks at me and says, ‘Dennis is dead.’” 3 years later, Danielle is still trying to get answers about how exactly her son died. In May 2020, an autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Dennis died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and ruled the death a homicide. No one has been charged, Associate Attorney General Jeffery A. Strelzin said the investigation is still open. Vaughan is trying to understand how the child welfare system failed her family so utterly. #TrueCrime