Suffer the Little Children

*This minisode was formerly available only to patrons. To help support the show, you can visit https://patreon.com/STLCpod. A Virginia family is shattered, a precious five-month-old baby dead, a mother permanently injured, and a husband to blame for their vicious attack. This is the horrific story of Emmy Chambers. Photos related to today's episode can be viewed on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.co...

Get Magic Mind’s “24-hour bundle” for 45% off using my link!   https://www.magicmind.com/LAINEJAN  In parts 1 and 2, I told you about Raylee Browning, a sweet, gentle, loving 8-year-old girl whose father, his girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s sister made Raylee their scapegoat for years, putting her through horrific abuse and neglect, all because she had a different mommy than the other three kids...

This minisode was formerly available only to patrons. To help support the show, you can visit https://patreon.com/STLCpod. On June 8, 2019, police in Muncie, Indiana responded to the YWCA women's shelter on Charles Street on a report of an unresponsive child. There, they found 3-month-old Shae Anna Marie Styhl covered in bruises, burns, and blisters, and an autopsy revealed extensive skeletal trau...

Get Magic Mind’s “24-hour bundle” for 45% off using my link! https://www.magicmind.com/LAINEJAN   Last week, I started telling you the story of eight-year-old Raylee Browning, who died in the home of her father, his girlfriend, and the woman’s sister after years of unthinkable abuse. Raylee’s death was infuriatingly preventable if only CPS and the family court judge hadn’t ignored countless abuse...

Get your Magic Mind here: https://magicmind.com/LAINE20 You get 20% off for a one-time purchase and up to 48% off for subscriptions with my code: LAINE20 In Episode 4, I told you about Raylee Browning: a little girl who died on December 26, 2018. Although she was covered with injuries from head to toe, her cause of death was a septic infection from untreated pneumonia. The three adults in the home...

*This minisode, formerly available only to Patreon subscribers, was originally released on June 12, 2021. Since I'm no longer creating these, I’ll occasionally release them to the public for all my listeners to enjoy. I didn’t realize until I re-listened how fast I talked back then; sorry about that!* On the morning of February 28, 2020, a young mother summoned Milwaukee police to her home, where...

Last week, I told you the story of two-year-old Arianna Starkey, whose father, Austin Starkey, failed to protect her from his homicidal girlfriend, Destani Neel. Both Austin and Destani were sentenced to prison for their roles in Arianna’s brutal death. Arianna’s death hit her family hard, and it’s taken some time for her maternal grandmother, Christina Justice, to be ready to tell her story. In t...

Note: I'm honored to release this episode on what would be Arianna's sixth birthday. On January 8, 2021, 27-year-old Destani Neel called 911, reporting that her boyfriend’s daughter was having trouble breathing. Although two-year-old Arianna Starkey was rushed to the hospital, she never regained consciousness, and she took her last breath two days later. Destani—a mother herself—had a story prepar...

From time to time, instead of covering an individual child’s story, I tackle a broader topic, such as my past episodes about hot car deaths and medical child abuse. While the topic of today’s episode doesn’t necessarily intersect with that of child abuse and neglect, it definitely intersects with this podcast’s purpose: to protect children. For this episode, I spoke with Christi Brown, the executi...

When Indianapolis police responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive child on April 9, 2024, they couldn’t have guessed the horrific circumstances of the victim’s life and death. 5-year-old Kinsleigh Welty, who weighed only 21 pounds, was clearly malnourished. She had a bruise on her face and fecal matter on her body and matted into her hair, which was crawling with lice. Kinsleigh was pronounced...

In Episode 102, I told you the story of two-year-old Fallon Fridley, a precious little girl in Georgia whose babysitter, a close family friend, tortured and killed her in December 2020. The attack was caught on the babysitter’s in-home video surveillance system, and police found incriminating search terms on Kirstie Flood’s phone, such as “What does it mean to have a sudden urge to beat a child th...

*This minisode, formerly available only to Patreon subscribers, was originally released on May 27, 2021. Since I'm no longer creating these, I thought I'd release them once in a while for all my listeners to enjoy. I apologize for talking so fast back then!* An adorable two-year-old boy described by loved ones as a “cheeky monkey” is dead, murdered just days after his second birthday, and his olde...

The National Children's Alliance (or NCA) is a Washington, D.C.-based network of almost 1,000 Children’s Advocacy Centers (or CACs) across the United States. These centers offer crucial services to children affected by abuse, providing them with a safe space to share their stories and access a diverse team of professionals, from health practitioners to law enforcement. CACs have trained nearly 1.6...

(Today would be Cali's 12th birthday, so I'm re-releasing this episode in her honor.) On May 15, 2018, police responded to a self-storage facility in Sacramento, California, where, in one of the storage units, sat a box containing a blue plastic barrel, inside which was a duffel bag. In that bag were the remains of a small child who appeared to have been dead for at least two weeks. Police tracked...

When Vayda Vasquez was a month away from turning two, her custodial maternal grandma trusted her overnight with a long-time family friend, Kellie Barthel. The following morning, after several 911 calls from Kellie’s residence in Stanton, Michigan, police responded and found little Vayda unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene. This is the story of a sweet, happy little girl who loved da...

On the evening of May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys—Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers—went missing in West Memphis, Arkansas. The next day, in a nearby wooded area, the boys were found brutally murdered, bound, and submerged in a drainage ditch. The horrific nature of the crime shocked the community, and police quickly arrested three local teenagers—Damien Echols, Jason Bald...

Over the past two episodes, I told you the story of non-verbal, autistic 13-year-old Jonathan Carey, who was smothered to death in 2007. His killer was a care worker from a facility for people with developmental disabilities. How could something like this happen? In this episode, you’ll hear my conversation with Jonathan’s father, Michael Carey, who has spent the last 17 years pushing for a massiv...

In the last episode, I told you the story of Jonathan Carey, a non-verbal, autistic boy whose parents had no choice but to send him to a second residential program after he suffered abuse and torture at the first one he attended. At age 13, Jonathan was restrained and suffocated to death by Developmental Aide Edwin Tirado. In this episode, I’ll continue Jonathan’s story where I left off, and I’ll...

(Laine here! This is part 2/2 of a collab I participated in. I hope you'll give it a listen!) Welcome to Hot Pursuit, a summer true-crime collaboration, where we dive deep into the world of true crime. We’ve gathered many incredible true-crime podcasters to bring you a multi-part series that’s all about the heat of the chase. We'll explore cases where justice was relentlessly pursued, delve into c...

(Laine here! This is a collab I participated in. I hope you'll give it a listen!) Welcome to Hot Pursuit, a summer true-crime collaboration, where we dive deep into the world of true crime. We’ve gathered many incredible true-crime podcasters to bring you a multi-part series that’s all about the heat of the chase. We'll explore cases where justice was relentlessly pursued, delve into crimes that o...

Jonathan Carey was autistic and nonverbal. Because he needed more care than they could provide in their home, when Jonathan was nine, his parents sent him to a highly recommended residential program at the Anderson School in Staatsburg, New York, where young Jonathan was starved, isolated, and physically abused. Due to the PTSD Jonathan suffered from the abuse, he had difficulties at home, and the...

In 2003, an East Texas couple adopted three young Russian children. Over the years, there were countless red flags for child abuse, especially against the oldest child, Alexey, who began running away when he was 12. He ended up on the doorstep of the Roosevelt House, an emergency shelter, assessment center, and residential care facility for children removed from abusive situations, usually by CPS....

For this episode, I had the privilege of talking to forensic psychologists Dr. Shiloh and Dr. Scott, the hosts of the L.A. Not So Confidential podcast. With years of expertise under their belts, the doctors had plenty of insight for us into the topic of child abuse, why it happens, and much more.  This is Episode 175: The Psychology of Child Abuse (with L.A. Not So Confidential). Center cover phot...

Last week, I told you the story of two-year-old Macy Grace Ditty, who arrived at the hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina on December 2, 2015, covered in bruises. Macy’s mother, Jeanie Ditty, went to trial for murder, but that ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury, and now, over eight years after Macy’s death, justice still hasn’t been served. In this episode, you’ll hear my conversation with...

On December 2, 2015, 23-year-old U.S. Army specialist Jeanie Ditty called 911 and calmly requested an ambulance for her two-year-old daughter, Macy Grace, who she said had thrown up in her sleep and aspirated. As soon as Macy Grace arrived at the hospital, medical staff took one look at the bruises covering her from head to toe and called the Fayetteville Police, reporting probable child abuse. Tr...