This Week In True Crime News
February 18, 2024
This new roundup is something that came out of a conversation about our regular feature, This Week In Books, which is primarily put together by Ariel Lawhon and Abby Belbeck. Marybeth joked that she’s not much help with book news because the only news she really pays attention to is true crime news. This led to the idea of offering a true crime weekly roundup, and everyone agreed that it might be content some of you would enjoy— especially those of you who gravitate to crime novels, mysteries, and thrillers. The truth really can be stranger than fiction, as it were.
This isn’t all the true crime news there is for the week, just the cases that have had our attention. If this isn’t your cup of tea, feel free to skip it. (It’s true crime, so trigger warnings abound!)
«Disclaimer: We want to be very careful to say that, while these stories are interesting and compelling, they are also, in almost every case, tragic and heartbreaking. We will never make light of this (though we might have to remark on the stupidity of some criminals). We will always, always respect the victims and their families. At the same time we are highlighting news that involves them, we are also thinking of and praying for them. This is news to us, but it’s their very lives. And we always want to respect that.»
Livingston, TX: Top news this week would have to be the disappearance of 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham. A bizarre text exchange that took place the day before Audrii’s disappearance between the girl’s mother and the man who is now the chief person of interest has us wondering if there was always intent on his part to abduct this child, or if something went terribly wrong. Rumors are flying, the worst one being that he has already confessed to the child’s murder. Still, we all want to hold out hope for this child’s safe return to her family.
Houston, TX: Lakewood Church had its first services after the tragic shooting there on 2/11/24 and more details surrounding the female shooter, Genesse Moreno are emerging. It seems that her neighbors, family members, etc. have all been concerned about her for quite some time. She has a record of instability and capability of harming others, including her 7-year-old son, whom she has (according to court documents) harmed before and who remains in critical condition after the shooting. We pray for his healing and the other victims, family and friends affected by this terrible incident.
Houston, TX (again): Mason Herring, the attorney who slipped abortion drugs into his wife’s drinks, causing their baby to be born prematurely and with delays requiring ongoing therapy, was sentenced this week to just 6 months in prison, with a 10 year probation period to follow. His ex-wife made a statement about how ridiculously light the sentence was. We pray that the little girl— now 18 months old— has a good life ahead of her and that this family finds healing and wholeness.
Manchester, NH: The trial of Adam Montgomery, father of murdered child Harmony Montgomery, continued this week, even though he didn’t appear in court. (Even though it’s his legal right not to be there, we think he should have to stand trial, as in actually be standing there.) His estranged wife gave brutal, horrific testimony this week, detailing how the precious little girl was killed, that was— for us— impossible to listen to. The things humans are capable of will never fail to shock and sicken us.
San Antonio, TX: The accused killers of pregnant Savannah Soto and her fiancé Matthew Guerra who were murdered execution style just one day before she was due to give birth, were in court this week asking for bond reductions. The accused young man’s parents are both in jail on charges of helping him clean up/cover up the crime. His father was granted a reduction, reasoning that— prior to this— he’s had no criminal record to speak of. His bond was reduced from $600,000 to $450,000. And, earlier, his mother was granted a bond reduction from $1.1 million to $600,000. We aren’t sure why her bond is significantly higher than his. Either way, they’re both being held responsible for aiding their son. More on that theme in a bit.
Dedham, MA: Accused murderer Karen Read is set to go to trial in March but this week both the prosecution and the defense asked for extensions. The judge said no and the trial will— at least as it looks right now— go on as planned. Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with her car and leaving him to die on the front lawn of a home as a party went on inside and a blizzard raged. She claims that she did no such thing and that someone inside the house is the true murderer, with a huge coverup orchestrated to pin the murder on her. This is a case that, to us, raises a lot of questions as to what really happened that night, and we will be watching when the trial does begin.
Columbus, OH: Little five-year-old Darnell Taylor, who was reported missing, was found deceased after his foster mother confessed to police when she was found wandering the streets in a nightgown. The foster mom, to some degree, knew the boy’s biological family, who are understandably shocked and stricken at the loss. The circumstances surrounding this case are still not super clear, but it seems the system somehow failed this little boy.
Sarasota County, FL: Gabby Petito, the beautiful, bright influencer who was living and traveling with her boyfriend Brian Laundrie in a van until she was murdered by that boyfriend (who later took his own life), was back in headlines this week as the civil case her parents brought against Laundrie’s parents led to a deposition by Laundrie’s father being made public, which states when they knew that Brian had killed Gabby. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Petito’s friends and family who had to wait so long, and involve litigation, for the truth they deserved to know to come out.
Nashville, TN: The son of diet-guru-turned-church-leader Gwen Shamblin, Michael Shamblin, spoke publicly for the first time (that we know of) since her death in a plane crash that killed 6 other people. Phil Williams, who interviewed Michael, is a reporter who in the past had confronted Gwen Shamblin about some parts of her ministry she would’ve rather not discussed. As Michael told him, to Shamblin and her supporters, Williams was “Satan incarnate.” If you’ve watched the well-done documentary about Shamblin that MAX did, you might want to give the three-part interview a watch. You can find it on this channel.
And one last note about a case we’ve been following for about a year— we were happy to see Ashleigh Banfield interview Grant Solomon’s mother and sister about his mysterious death this week. We hope that the wider, broader coverage will yield the attention this case deserves, and that valid questions will finally be answered.
For all of you who, like Marybeth, gravitate to true crime, we hope this is a post you’ll come back to each week, and that we can find each other in the comments. What did we miss? What should we be following? What are your thoughts about these cases or others? The rest of the world doesn’t really understand us, and we need each other. :) So let’s talk— but let’s keep our comments honoring to each other, and the people involved.
~ Marybeth