Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 10.16.24 | Mom Drowns Two Tot Daughters

Episode Date: October 16, 2024

Mom drowns two toddler daughters for "religious purposes." Man finds creative use for antiques.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Naomi Elkins, 27, spends the night praying about her concerning thoughts. Her words, not mine. After work the next day, she brings her top daughters back to their New Jersey home and kills them. She stabs her one-year-old daughter in the stomach and drowns her in the bathtub. She finds her three-year-old hiding in the stomach and drowns her in the bathtub. She finds her three-year-old hiding in another bathroom, draws a second bath, then drowns the oldest daughter, which is three.

Nancy Elkins worked at a daycare where both of her daughters were enrolled. Elkins' attorney, Mitchell Ansel, says his client has a well-documented history of mental illness, and while Ansel postponed her detention hearing twice so that Elkins could receive a psychological evaluation, Elkins has now waived her right to the hearing, saying that pretrial detention is what's best for her. Naomi Elkins, charged with two counts murder. Mitchell Vest, 60, visits antique stores Spring, Texas to beat the heat. He wears a kilt paired with a tank top. As he browses one shop, the owner notices him pick items off the shelf, stick them under his kilt, and then return the items. Upon closer inspection, the items have feces on them. Cops are called. He's charged with criminal

mischief, to which he pleads guilty. The soiled items were all disposed. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. Opening statements began Monday in the trial of Leilani Simon, a Georgia mother accused of the murder of her 20-month-old son, Quentin Simon. Prosecutors say Simon killed the toddler two years ago before dumping his body in a trash bin near their Savannah home. Simon, who has pleaded not guilty, faces 19 charges, including malice murder, felony murder, and concealing the death of another. The case dates back to October

5, 2022, when Simon called 911 to report her son missing from his playpen. Days of intensive searching led Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley to conclude that Quinton was likely dead, naming Simon as the sole suspect early in the investigation. Two weeks after the boy's disappearance, law enforcement turned their focus to a nearby landfill. After a month-long search, investigators found human remains that DNA later confirmed to be Quentin's. During Monday's proceedings, lead prosecutor Jim Dean painted a grim picture of Simon's life leading up to the death. He described her strained relationship with then-boyfriend Daniel Youngkin and alleged that Simon had been using cocaine and Percocet in the hours before her son's death. Dean claimed Simon killed Quentin, discarded his body

in a trash bin, and then went to sleep. Videos of Simon's police interviews were presented to the jury, showing her changing stories multiple times. At one point, she reportedly suggested she may have blacked out and could not remember what happened to her son. Notably absent from the prosecutor's opening statement was an explanation of how Quentin was killed. According to Dean, the toddler's remains were too decomposed to determine a cause of death. In a sharp contrast, the defense used just three minutes for their opening, accusing the state of relying on speculation rather than hard evidence. In Las Vegas, one of three suspects involved in a deadly Thanksgiving 2020 shooting spree across Nevada and Arizona has pleaded guilty.

We turn to Sydney Sumner of Crime Online for more. 32-year-old Christopher McDonald admitted to 23 felony charges, including murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of firearms, avoiding a trial next month. Prosecutors dropped a terrorism charge as part of the plea deal. The shooting rampage, which left one man dead at a Henderson convenience store and several others wounded, ended after a police chase in Arizona. McDonald now faces a possible life sentence with parole eligibility starting after 21 years. Sentencing is set for December 13th. McDonald's co-defendants, his brother Sean and ex-wife

Kaylee Lewis, faced trial in November on multiple felony counts, including terrorism. Sean McDonald could face the death penalty if convicted. Both men are jailed without bail. Thanks, John. Veronica Reyes Diaz, 23, has a girls' night out Dover, Florida. A friend drops her off at her home where her husband and little child are sleeping. Veronica gets into her car to pick up her two older children from her sisters. She tucks the children in. Evidence suggests she planned to go out again. Her Chevy Yukon is parked outside the family home. Keys and wallet inside. Veronica has not been seen since. Her cell phone shut down or dies before it can be located. Veronica Reyes Diaz, 23, 4'10", 145 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.

She has a dark mole under her left eye, now missing four years. If you have info on Veronica Reyes Diaz, call Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriffs, 813-247-8200. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.