Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Tragic Toddler Death in Frankfort Sparks Community Fears of Lindsay Clancy Scenario | Crime Alert 09.07.26
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: I'm Sydney Silvani. In Frankfort, Illinois, located roughly 36 miles
- 0:08Speaker 1: southwest of Chicago, a quiet suburban neighborhood is reeling following
- 0:13Speaker 1: a devastating tragedy that has drawn chilling local comparisons to
- 0:17Speaker 1: high-profile domestic violence cases. Emergency responders were dispatched shortly after
- 0:22Speaker 1: 4 p.m. Tuesday to a large home on the 22,700
- 0:26Speaker 1: block of Brookstone Court following urgent reports of an unresponsive child.
- 0:31Speaker 1: Upon arriving at the residential scene, responding officers located the
- 0:35Speaker 1: toddler inside the residence and immediately initiated CPR before emergency
- 0:39Speaker 1: medical crews rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he
- 0:42Speaker 1: was pronounced dead. Inside the residence, police discovered the child's
- 0:46Speaker 1: mother suffering from injuries believed to be self-inflicted. She was
- 0:50Speaker 1: transported to a regional hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Law enforcement
- 0:55Speaker 1: stated that preliminary findings point to a domestic-related homicide. However,
- 0:59Speaker 1: authorities have not publicly disclosed the specific cause of the
- 1:02Speaker 1: toddler's death, released the mother's identity, or confirmed if criminal
- 1:06Speaker 1: charges have been filed. Adding to the mystery surrounding the scene,
- 1:10Speaker 1: representatives from the Frankfurt Fire Protection District confirmed emergency personnel
- 1:15Speaker 1: transported five people from the property shortly after police arrived.
- 1:20Speaker 1: Authorities have not released details regarding the identities or medical
- 1:23Speaker 1: conditions of the other three individuals, nor explained why emergency
- 1:27Speaker 1: hospitalization was necessary. The investigation remained active as police blocked
- 1:33Speaker 1: off the street for several hours, with forensic investigators seen
- 1:36Speaker 1: entering and leaving the property to gather evidence. Local resident
- 1:40Speaker 1: Carolyn Papas told news reporters that the tragic death left
- 1:44Speaker 1: residents deeply stunned. sharing that the circumstances brought to mind
- 1:48Speaker 1: the high-profile case of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused
- 1:52Speaker 1: of killing her three children before attempting to take her
- 1:55Speaker 1: own life. Pappas noted that the shocking death serves as
- 1:58Speaker 1: a painful reminder that individuals may be enduring severe personal
- 2:02Speaker 1: crises behind closed doors without neighbors realizing it, urging residents
- 2:07Speaker 1: to check in on loved ones. The Frankfort Police Department
- 2:11Speaker 1: asks anyone with information to call investigators directly at 815-469-9435.
- 2:18Speaker 1: More crime and justice news after this. In Ohio, 23-year-old
- 2:24Speaker 1: Mackenzie Sherilla has officially lost her final opportunity to appeal
- 2:28Speaker 1: her murder conviction at the state level following a high-speed
- 2:32Speaker 1: collision featured in the popular Netflix documentary, The Crash. On Tuesday,
- 2:37Speaker 1: September 1st, Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy of the Supreme Court
- 2:41Speaker 1: of Ohio issued an official ruling denying Sherilla's motion for reconsideration,
- 2:46Speaker 1: effectively ending her state appeals process for the deadly July
- 2:49Speaker 1: 2022 crash. Back in August 2023, Shrilla was convicted on
- 2:54Speaker 1: 12 criminal counts, including murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault,
- 2:59Speaker 1: and drug possession, after intentionally accelerating her Toyota Camry to
- 3:04Speaker 1: speeds reaching 100 miles per hour before plowing directly into
- 3:08Speaker 1: a brick building. The high-speed impact killed her 20-year-old boyfriend,
- 3:12Speaker 1: Dominic Russo, and their 19-year-old friend, Davian Flanagan, both pronounced
- 3:16Speaker 1: dead at the scene. Sharila, who was 17 at the time,
- 3:20Speaker 1: was found unconscious in the wreckage, but survived. During her
- 3:23Speaker 1: bench trial, the presiding judge described her as literal hell
- 3:27Speaker 1: on wheels. She was sentenced to 15 years to life
- 3:30Speaker 1: in prison. Following her conviction, Sherilla hired new defense attorneys
- 3:35Speaker 1: who sought a new trial, arguing she suffered from a
- 3:38Speaker 1: pre-existing medical condition that could have caused her to black
- 3:41Speaker 1: out while driving and claiming trial counsel was ineffective. However,
- 3:45Speaker 1: her state appeal was rejected due to a procedural deadline
- 3:49Speaker 1: error involving a leap year. Under Ohio law, defendants have
- 3:53Speaker 1: a 365-day statutory clock to file a petition for post-conviction
- 3:58Speaker 1: relief following transcript filings. Because 2024 was a leap year,
- 4:03Speaker 1: the statutory deadline fell on October 23, 2024. Sharila's legal
- 4:07Speaker 1: team submitted the petition on October 24, missing the deadline
- 4:11Speaker 1: by exactly one day. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the
- 4:15Speaker 1: rejection as untimely. Sharila's team has since filed a federal
- 4:19Speaker 1: habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court, which remains pending.
- 4:23Speaker 1: In Uniontown, Pennsylvania, 30-year-old Tyler Greenough faces severe felony charges
- 4:29Speaker 1: after allegedly holding his ex-girlfriend, her young child, and her
- 4:32Speaker 1: grandmother hostage during a terrifying three-day ordeal. According to an
- 4:37Speaker 1: official statement from the Fayette County District Attorney's Office, Greenough
- 4:41Speaker 1: broke into his ex-girlfriend's home on Friday, August 28, by
- 4:44Speaker 1: climbing through a window, violating an active protection order. Over
- 4:48Speaker 1: the next three days, Greenough allegedly held all three occupants
- 4:52Speaker 1: captive while physically assaulting both adult women. Prosecutors state Greenough
- 4:57Speaker 1: was enraged after learning his ex-girlfriend had been intimate with
- 5:00Speaker 1: another man, threatening to murder the child and grandmother in
- 5:03Speaker 1: front of his ex-girlfriend before taking her life as well.
- 5:07Speaker 1: The situation escalated when Greenough forced his ex-girlfriend to arrange
- 5:11Speaker 1: a meeting with the other man. Greenough forced the grandmother
- 5:14Speaker 1: and child into the vehicle's trunk hit in the back
- 5:17Speaker 1: seat and made his ex-girlfriend drive to the location. When
- 5:20Speaker 1: the man entered the car, Greenough attacked him. After the
- 5:23Speaker 1: man escaped, Greenough took the wheel and attempted to run
- 5:26Speaker 1: him over multiple times before forcing his ex-girlfriend to file
- 5:30Speaker 1: a false police report alleging sexual abuse against the man.
- 5:34Speaker 1: The captives finally escaped on Monday when Greenough left for work,
- 5:38Speaker 1: allowing them to report the abuse to police. Greenough now
- 5:41Speaker 1: faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, burglary, unlawful restraint, and
- 5:46Speaker 1: terroristic threats. For more crime and justice news, be sure
- 5:50Speaker 1: to join us for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on
- 5:53Speaker 1: Fox 1, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming on Tubi.
- 5:57Speaker 1: With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.