Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Grandfather of Victims Tries to Shoot Their Killer at Courthouse | Crime Alert 05.26.25

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

Grandfather of two young children killed in a car crash fatally shot while trying to take vengeance. Macon, Georgia authorities investigate two shootings less than 24 hours apart.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now. I'm Sydney Sumner. Danville, Indiana, a man with maybe vengeance, maybe suicide on his mind. Just before 1 p.m., Mark Votter stands near the courthouse as two Hendricks County deputies begin escorting inmates from a transport van. The 65-year-old reveals a concealed weapon, a handgun. He fires at least once toward the group of inmates and officers.

Deputies Zachary Emmett and Nathan Phillips return fire. They strike Votter, who dies there. No one else is hurt. The Indiana State Police take over the investigation. They later reveal the man he thought was on that transport had his court date postponed. Sidoni Petty, accused of slaughtering Vodder's two grandchildren in a car crash, was not in the van that afternoon. Petty was running from police in a stolen Honda Civic when he slammed the car into the side of a Ford Explorer with three-year-old Ares and two-month-old Iris in the back seat. Their father, the driver, survived, but both Iris and Ares burned to death when the Explorer exploded.

Vodder shot into the crowd, did not injure anyone, but the sheriff's deputies did not miss. Just a few days before the shooting, Vodder spoke with the media at a walk of honor for Ares, saying it should have been his grandson burying him, not the other way around. Neighbors believe Vodder planned the attack for weeks, remembering a conversation where Votter commented he didn't have long to live.

The two deputies involved in the deadly shooting are placed on administrative leave. More Crime and Justice news after this. Now with the latest Crime and Justice breaking news. Crime Align's John Lemley. Four people are dead and eight others wounded after a violent weekend in central Georgia. Authorities in Macon, a city about 160,000 residents in Bibb County are investigating two separate shootings that occurred less than 24 hours apart. The most deadly took place early Sunday morning, May 18th,

just after midnight, outside the Midtown Daiquiri Bar and Grill. Three men were shot and killed in the parking lot. Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones identified them as 28-year-old Judarius Meadows Jr., 32-year-old Javante Fox, and 24-year-old Javarcio Meadows. Six others were injured but are expected to survive. Less than a day earlier, a 25 year old man, Jareese Markel Haywood, was fatally shot at a graduation party in a nearby neighborhood.

Two other men were also injured, one critically. No arrests have been announced in either case. Coroner Leon Jones, who also leads a local anti-violence group, called the recent string of killings frustrating and depressing, noting the county has now seen five homicides in just one week. A notorious Haitian gang leader has been convicted in the United States for orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of American missionaries. We turn to crime online correspondent Sydney Sumner for more.

In a Washington, D.C. federal courtroom, Zermin Zoli, known as Yan Yan, was found guilty of masterminding the abduction of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian in Haiti. Despite being incarcerated since 2018 for unrelated crimes, Zoli continued to lead the 400 Mwozo gang from prison. In October 2021, the gang kidnapped members of the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, including five children aged six, three, and eight months. The gang demanded a million dollars per hostage, or Zoli's release. After a $350,000 ransom was paid, some hostages were released. The remaining captives escaped after 62 days in captivity. Zoli was extradited to the U.S. in 2022. Last year, he received a 35-year sentence for weapon smuggling and laundering ransom money. His recent conviction adds to his legal troubles with sentencing pending.

The 400 Mawozo gang, whose name roughly translates to 400 Simpletons, remains active under the leadership of Joseph Wilson, also known as Lon Mo San Zu, meaning death has no date. Wilson is currently on the FBI's most wanted list. Jermaine Jolie's conviction marks a significant step in addressing gang related kidnappings in Haiti. December 15 1996, a 12 year old girl disappears from her aunt's home in Willingboro, New Jersey. Hours earlier, she was at a church dinner with family. She tells a cousin, thanks for

everything. The next morning, her bed is found stuffed with pillows. Her prescribed vitamins and purse left behind. She's nine months pregnant. Selena Mays lost her mom two years earlier. After a custody battle, she moves in with dad and joins a strict religious group. When she vanishes, some accuse the family of hiding her. The father of her child is never named, but identified only as 16 years old and not from the church. Selena is mixed-race, 5 feet, 120 pounds, The child is never named but identified only as 16 years old and not from the church.

Selena is mixed-race, 5 feet 120 pounds, and she'd now be 40 years old. The baby would have been born between Christmas and New Year's, today 27 years old. If you have any information on Selena Mays or her baby, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST. For the latest crime and justice news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this Crime Alert, I'm Sydney Sumner.