Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 01.01.25 | Teen Kills Parents, Siblings in Drunken Attack

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Drunk 16-year-old shoots parents and brothers dead, tells police he's "possessed." Florida woman, daughter flashed.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. 3.30 a.m., Diego Leyva, 16, calls 911 from his New Mexico home. Slurring words, Leyva tells the operator he killed his parents and siblings. When cops arrive, Leyva stumbles out, hands in the air, clearly drunk. Inside, his parents, dad, 42, mom, 35, found dead from gunshot wounds. His twin, Adrian, and 14-year-old brother, Alexander, also dead. Nancy, Leyva told both the 911 operator and responding officers that he was, quote,

possessed when he killed his family and never had thoughts of harming them before. Police found Leyva covered in blood, and blood in the home led them to the bodies of his parents and brothers. One victim was found in a bathroom, the remaining three together in a hallway. A pistol found on the kitchen table inside the home is believed to be the murder weapon. Diego Leyva, just 16, now charged with four counts of murder. A Florida woman and her 11-year-old daughter are enjoying local Christmas decorations when Abraham Castro approaches, asking the women to take a photo of him in front of the decorations. The woman counts to three, and Castro drops his pants.

The woman drops his phone, pulls her daughter away, and calls cops. Officers spot Castro riding a bike near the scene, he admits to flashing the mom and daughter, and he's booked on lewd and lascivious behavior on a child and public indecency. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. We begin in Texas and a Harris County courtroom where a judge has now sentenced Gloria Williams to 50 years in prison for the severe abuse and neglect of her children, forcing three of them to live for over a year with the decomposing remains of their eight-year-old brother, Kendrick Lee. Authorities discovered the grim scene in October 2021, where the children, alone and malnourished, were surviving in an infested and squalid apartment. Investigators say Kendrick was beaten to death by Williams'

boyfriend, Brian Coulter, who was sentenced to life without parole in April. Yet Williams never reported her son's death. Instead, the eldest sibling, at just 15, found the courage to seek help. During sentencing, Williams expressed regret, but prosecutors highlighted her role in the trauma suffered by her children. She had moved to another apartment with Coulter, abandoning her surviving children in appalling conditions. Since her arrest, Williams has relinquished her parental rights. The two younger siblings have been adopted, while the eldest is now with a foster family. A 41-year-old injustice has been overturned in New York, clearing the name of a man who spent nearly eight years in prison for a crime he says

he didn't commit. Crime Online's Sydney Sumner has the details. In a dramatic turn of events, a Westchester County, New York judge has vacated the decades-old conviction of 67-year-old Jeffrey Kuntz. Kuntz was found guilty of armed robbery in 1983, but prosecutors now say his conviction was marred by flawed police tactics and unreliable witness testimony. The case stems from a 1981 robbery at the Vernon Stars Rod and Gun Club in Mount Vernon, where patrons were forced to the ground, robbed, and three were injured by shotgun fire. Koontz always maintained his innocence, and new evidence suggests he wasn't even there that night. An investigation by the District Attorney's Conviction Review Unit uncovered that police

pressured the sole eyewitness to identify Koontz and use manipulated photo lineups. Alibi witnesses who could have exonerated him, including a retired NYPD detective, were never interviewed. In court, DA Mimi Rocha said the conviction was, quote, tainted by questionable investigatory practices, and Judge James McCarty agreed, citing the weak evidence and improper procedures. However, the judge declined to make findings of police misconduct, calling them speculative. Jeffrey Kuntz thanked the court for what he called vindication for himself and his family. Among Jeffrey Kuntz's children is NFL player Malcolm Kuntz, who was drafted by the Raiders in 2021. Thanks, John.

Tiffany Whitten, 26, shops with her boyfriend at a Marietta, Georgia Walmart in the early morning hours. After checking out, employees stop the couple to check their receipts and Whitten runs out, leaving the cart behind. The boyfriend finds her shoes and purse in the parking lot. She used to work at an IHOP across the street, so he stops in. No trace of Tiffany. She usually is active on social, but no posts after running away. Leaving behind a six-year-old daughter. Tiffany Whitten, 5'3", 105 pounds, blonde hair, green eyes, several small tattoos, For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com and please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

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