Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Texas Mom Locks 11YO Autistic Boy with Rotting Teeth in Filthy Room | Crime Alert 6AM 10.17.25

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

A Texas woman was arrested last week after her 11-year-old autistic son was reportedly found severely underweight and with other injuries indicative of abuse. Investigators believe they know the identities of the shooters who opened fire at a crowded South Carolina bar on Sunday, killing four people and wounding 20 others. Sydney Sumner reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime alert, hourly update. Breaking crime news now. I'm Sidney Sumner. A Texas woman was arrested last week after her 11-year-old autistic son was reportedly found severely underweight and with other injuries indicative of abuse.

At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors laid out the horrible conditions the boy was left in. It's alleged in that case that the defendant started the child, made the child live in a feces. build room, locked away. Baytown Police said that in May, Rachel Blaylock's son was found in a locked room by himself,

despite several other people living in the mobile home. The boy, who weighed 46 pounds, had rotting teeth and was covered in dried feces. Medical records stated that the boy was hospitalized with feces on his teeth, in his ears, and under his nails. Investigators noted the smell of feces and other bodily fluids throughout Blaylock's home. Blaylock 41 allegedly claimed her nonverbal son, who could not use the bathroom on his own, would throw feces around his room.

A child protection services investigator instructed an officer to tell Blaylock that her son needed medical care. Blaylock allegedly responded, quote, I can't just drop everything I'm doing and take him to the hospital so a quack-a-doctor can say, oh, I don't know what's wrong with him, so we can see another one. Blaylock admitted to replacing her son's door with a screen door she kept locked, because he would flee the home naked. Meanwhile, the boy's grandmother, who described Blaylock as not a very good mom, managed to unlock the door a couple times to give him food and water. Baytown police arrested Blaylock on October 7th. She allegedly told arresting officers

that a container on her belt loop held her baby daddy's ashes. However, testing concluded it was crystal meth. Prosecutors argued Blaylock's son is a victim of her drug abuse. Although possession of controlled substances often considered a crime without a victim, the context here indicates that that is not the case. Blaylock is charged with injury to a child in possession of methamphetamine. Her bond was set at $250,000. Reports indicate that the 11-year-old boy is now in foster care. Now to South Carolina, where investigators believe they know the identities of the shooters

who opened fire at a crowded bar on Sunday, killing four people and wounding 20 others. Buford County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said that no witnesses have come forward to confirm details of the mass shooting that sent hundreds of people gathered for a high school reunion event scattering. We know that there were two, possibly three within this crowd, that had an ongoing feud with each other. And as a result of this ongoing feud, this disagreement, this inability to communicate, like, we're doing now. They resorted to pulling guns. When asked by reporters if there was still a danger to the public since the shooters were still at large, Tanner replied, I cannot tell you that you're safe in Beaufort County. Tanner said the FBI is assisting enhancing security video of the scene while the state law enforcement division is analyzing guns, ammunition, and shell casings. Gunfire

rang out at Willie's Bar and Grill, a well-known hotspot on St. Helena Island, known for its gula-inspired cuisine. The coroner's office identified the dead as Kashon Glaze, 22, Sherrod Smalls, 33, Amos Gary, 54, and Ashantec Milledge, 22. Gary was working security at the unofficial alumni event for graduates of Battery Creek High School. The sheriff also said that four people who had been hospitalized in critical condition were now doing much better. An Alabama judge sent a murder case to a Lee County grand jury Wednesday following the September killing of a beloved retired Auburn University professor. Harold Rashad Dabney I, 28, is facing capital murder during a kidnapping and capital murder during a theft charges in connection with

the death of Dr. Julie Garde Shunel, 59. During the 45-minute hearing at the Lee County Justice Center Wednesday, Davney didn't speak as Lee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Tickle found probable cause for the charges based on evidence presented by Auburn Police Detective Taylor Clark. Clark was the only witness at the hearing. Police found Shunel, a professor emerita, dead on September 6th at Kiesel Park in Auburn. Clark stated that Kiesel Park security footage showed Shunel arriving at the park with her dog at around 9.30 a.m. on September 6th and a red Ford F-150. At 154 p.m., police responded to the scene after a witness at the park discovered the professor's body near a walking trail. Clark said that upon arrival at the park, he located Shunel's body around 25 to 30 yards away from the

trail behind a tree. Clark, who said it appeared that Shunel had been dragged, added he found her visor and dog leash soaked in blood. Clark said that she had been stabbed in her neck, chest, right hand, and forearm. Security footage from the park's parking lot showed a man matching the defendant's description using a key fob to locate Shunel's truck. At around 10.29 a.m., he got into the truck and drove away. The following morning, while following up on a call regarding a suspicious person, police encountered Dabney. While searching him, they found Shunel's max credit card in his underwear. He also had on Adida's shoes that appeared to match the same pair worn by the suspect in the park's security footage. Clark said that a

fingerprint found on the truck also matched Dabney. Blood evidence found inside the truck and under Shunel's fingernails is currently being tested at the Department of Forensic Sciences. The weapon used during the attack has not been found. Dabney remains behind bars without bail. The Lee County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty. For the latest crime and justice breaking news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Sumner. This is an IHeart podcast.