A 17-year-old Indianapolis boy has been charged with shooting and killing his father, stepmother, two teenage relatives and a heavily pregnant 19-year-old woman. The teen has been charged with six counts of murder, including of the unborn baby. Raymond Ronald Lee Childs III was arrested on Monday, a day after the shootings took place. Childs was charged with murder at an initial trial on Thursday.
The magistrate initially entered a 'not guilty' plea and ordered him to be held without bond and appointed a public defender. Childs was also charged with carrying a handgun without a licence. Childs is being tried as an adult.
The shooting was the result of an argument with his father about the latter sneaking out of the house. The pregnant teenager was identified as 19-year-old Kiara Hawkins, who was said to be in a relationship with someone in the house. The only survivor is a 15-year-old boy, who fled, trying to escape as his sibling shot at him. The other two victims are Elijah Childs, 18, and Rita Childs, 13.
Childs was arrested at a relative’s home. Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor has asked the community to rally around the surviving teenager, “as he must come to terms with unimaginable loss”.
