Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Drunk Drivers Who Kill Will Owe Child Support Under Proposed New Law | Crime Alert 6AM 03.11.26

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Drunk Drivers Who Kill Will Owe Child Support Under Proposed New Law | Crime Alert 6AM 03.11.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew Nelson.
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  Speaker 1: A proposed law in Missouri would require convicted drunk drivers
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  Speaker 1: to pay child support to children whose parents were killed
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  Speaker 1: in impaired driving crashes. Lawmakers in Jefferson City are considering
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  Speaker 1: two similar bills. House Bill nineteen ten and Senate Bill
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  Speaker 1: eleven thirty five would require drivers convicted of killing a
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  Speaker 1: parent while driving under the influence to pay child support
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  Speaker 1: to surviving children if the offender is sentenced to prison.
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  Speaker 1: Payments would begin no later than one year after release.
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  Speaker 1: A judge would determine the amount using the same guidelines
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  Speaker 1: used in divorce and custody cases. Judges would consider the
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  Speaker 1: caregivers financial resources. They would also look at the child's
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  Speaker 1: health and education needs and the child's standard of living.
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  Speaker 1: Payments would continue until the child turns eighteen, and in some
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  Speaker 1: cases could continue until twenty one if the child attends
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  Speaker 1: college or has a qualifying disability. The proposal grew out
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  Speaker 1: of a deadly crash in Jefferson County, Missouri. On April thirteenth,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. A crash killed Cordel Shawn Michael Williams, thirty,
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  Speaker 1: his wife, Lacey Newton, twenty five, also died. Their four
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  Speaker 1: month old son, Cordel Shawn Michael Williams, the second was
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  Speaker 1: killed as well. Investigators say a drunk driver caused the crash.
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  Speaker 1: That driver, David Thurby, was twenty six. He was charged
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  Speaker 1: with three counts of driving while intoxicated resulting in the
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  Speaker 1: death of a person. A jury convicted him of three
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  Speaker 1: counts of second degree in voluntary manslaughter on January eleventh,
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Two boys survived the crash, but lost
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  Speaker 1: their parents and baby brother. Their grandmother, Cecilia Williams, now
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  Speaker 1: raises Mason and Bentley. She has traveled to the Missouri
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  Speaker 1: State Capitol many times since the crash while urging state
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  Speaker 1: lawmakers to pass the bill, and I wanted to bring
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  Speaker 1: something to help families who need it when they find
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  Speaker 1: themselves in a situation of raising kids again. State Senator
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  Speaker 1: Mike Henderson has carried the proposal since the crash. The
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  Speaker 1: legislation is named Bentley and Mason's Law after the two boys.
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  Speaker 1: Supporters say the measure would hold drunk drivers accountable long
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  Speaker 1: after the criminal case ends. Mothers against Drunk Driving has
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  Speaker 1: also voiced support of the proposal. Versions of Bentley's law
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  Speaker 1: have already passed in several states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Maine,
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  Speaker 1: South Dakota, and Utah. A family in Tennessee became the
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  Speaker 1: first to receive child support payments under a similar law.
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  Speaker 1: Missouri lawmakers continued debating the proposal. Some have raised questions
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  Speaker 1: about how payments could be enforced if an offender does
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  Speaker 1: not have the financial means. If one of the bills
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  Speaker 1: passes both chambers and the governor signs it, the law
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  Speaker 1: would take effect in August. More crime and justice news
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  Speaker 1: After this, A mother in Alabama now basis capital murder
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  Speaker 1: charges and the death of her missing toddler after investigators
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  Speaker 1: say the child was killed months before she was reported missing.
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  Speaker 1: Authorities in Enterprise say thirty three year old Adrian Reid
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  Speaker 1: is charged with capital murder and abuse of a corpse
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  Speaker 1: and the death of her daughter, two year old Genesis Read.
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  Speaker 1: The charges were announced the day the child would have
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  Speaker 1: turned three. Police say Reed reported Genesis missing around three
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  Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning February sixteenth from their apartment on
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  Speaker 1: Apatche Drive in Enterprise. She told officers the toddler had
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  Speaker 1: walked out of a home overnight and the front door
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  Speaker 1: had been left. AJAR officers searched the area but found
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  Speaker 1: no sign of the child. As detectives continued investigating, they
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  Speaker 1: began to find inconsistencies in the story. Reid was later
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  Speaker 1: arrested and charged with false reporting to law enforcement. Investigators
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  Speaker 1: now say Genesis has not been seen since Christmas Day.
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  Speaker 1: Please say. Surveillance video from a neighboring home showed Red
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  Speaker 1: walking toward the apartment complex dumpster around eleven thirty that
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  Speaker 1: night while pulling a rolling Duffel bag. Two days later,
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  Speaker 1: investigators say another video showed her returning to the dumpster
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  Speaker 1: carrying toys and other items believed to belong to the
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  Speaker 1: young child. Authorities believe the child was killed on Christmas
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  Speaker 1: Day and placed in the bag before being thrown away.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators have not yet located genesis body. Enterprise Police Chief
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  Speaker 1: Michael spoke about the impact of the case on the community.
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  Speaker 2: Today's especially heartbreaking day for our community. March ninth would
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  Speaker 2: have been genesis third birthday. The loss of a child,
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  Speaker 2: the most precious and innocent members of our society is
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  Speaker 2: something that cannot be ignored and will not be forgotten.
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  Speaker 2: The investigation is far from over. Our focus now turns
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  Speaker 2: to bringing Genesis home to the community that love.
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  Speaker 1: Their authority say. Search efforts are now focused on the
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  Speaker 1: Coffee County landfill. Investigators used truck schedules and GPS data
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  Speaker 1: from landfill equipment to narrow the potential search area. After
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  Speaker 1: the dumpster contents were collected and transported, Officials warned the
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  Speaker 1: search will be difficult because the trash was compacted multiple
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  Speaker 1: times and processed by heavy equipment before reaching the landfill.
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  Speaker 1: Coffee County District Attorney James Tarbac states prosecutors planned to
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  Speaker 1: seek the death penalty in the case. Reed is expected
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  Speaker 1: to appear in court later this week. As the investigation continues.
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  Speaker 1: A Georgia family now supports dropping the charges against five
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  Speaker 1: teenagers accused in prom season prank that ended with a
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  Speaker 1: beloved teacher's death. Jason Hughes was a forty year old
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  Speaker 1: math teacher and golf coach at North Hall High School
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  Speaker 1: in Gainesville and a father of two boys. Investigators say
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  Speaker 1: the incident happened late on March sixth, outside his Gainesville home,
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  Speaker 1: where five students had come to toilet paper the yard,
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  Speaker 1: part of a prom tradition known as junior senior wars.
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  Speaker 1: The Hall County Sheriff's Office says the students rolled trees
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  Speaker 1: at Hughes's home, then ran to two vehicles When he
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  Speaker 1: came outside. It had been raining, and deputy say Hughes
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  Speaker 1: slipped and fell in the road as the students were leaving.
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  Speaker 1: Eighteen year old Jaden Ryan Wallace was driving a pickup
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  Speaker 1: and is accused of running over Hughes. Wallace and the
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  Speaker 1: others stopped and tried to help him until first responders arrived,
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  Speaker 1: but Hughes later died at the hospital. Wallace is charged
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  Speaker 1: with first degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass, and
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  Speaker 1: littering on private property. Four others, eighteen year olds Elijah Tate, Owens,
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  Speaker 1: Aiden Hucks, Anna Katherine Luke, and Ariana Cruz, were all
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  Speaker 1: arrested and charged with criminal trespass and littering on private property.
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  Speaker 1: Court records show all five has since been released on bond.
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  Speaker 1: Hughes family says they do not want the case to
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  Speaker 1: destroy the student's lives. In a statement reported by The
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  Speaker 1: New York Times, the family said, quote, this is a
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  Speaker 1: terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a
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  Speaker 1: separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students.
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  Speaker 1: This would be counter to Jason's lifelong dedication of investing
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  Speaker 1: in the lives of those children. The family has also
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  Speaker 1: made clear that they do not believe the prank was
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  Speaker 1: driven by cruelty. Matt Williams, friend of the Hughes family,
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  Speaker 1: told WSB, Jason was actually looking forward to it. That
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  Speaker 1: the family wants to make really clear is that they
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  Speaker 1: knew these kids, that they loved them, and these kids
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  Speaker 1: loved the Hughes. This was not a malicious act. Hughes
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  Speaker 1: knew the students were coming and was excited to catch
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  Speaker 1: them in the act. That detail fits with what friends
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  Speaker 1: and relatives has said since the death that this was
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  Speaker 1: a familiar school tradition and not an angry confrontationation. The
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  Speaker 1: prank itself was tied to the Junior Senior Wars game,
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  Speaker 1: where students scored points for hitting certain targets. A rule
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  Speaker 1: sheet posted on Instagram listed one point for students, two
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  Speaker 1: for teachers and coaches, and three for administrators. It banned cars, eggs, paint, weapons,
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  Speaker 1: and damage to mailboxes. The Hall County School District had
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  Speaker 1: warned students earlier that same day that some prom season
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  Speaker 1: pranks had gone too far in previous years. In a
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  Speaker 1: message to parents and students, the district urged them to
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  Speaker 1: avoid any activity that could damage school or personal property
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  Speaker 1: and warned that criminal charges could follow. The community response
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  Speaker 1: has been huge. A GoFundMe created for Hughes family to
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  Speaker 1: help with funeral costs, bills, and a future college fund
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  Speaker 1: for his children, has raised four hundred eight thousand, two
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  Speaker 1: hundred sixty six dollars over a seventy five thousand dollars goal.
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  Speaker 1: The page shows more than four thousand, four hundred donations,
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  Speaker 1: the top donation listed at six thousand, seven hundred eighty
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  Speaker 1: five dollars. The Hall County Sheriff's office says the investigation
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  Speaker 1: is continuing. Any decision on whether the charges will move
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  Speaker 1: forward will ultimately rest with the Hall County District Attorney
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  Speaker 1: Lee Dera. For the latest crime and justice news, follow
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