The Misery Machine - The Cases of Lamora Williams & Ka Yang

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

This week, Drewby and Yergy revisit two cases that have come to resolutions, albeit very different ones. The first is of Georgia mother, Lamora Williams, who cooked her two sons in an oven after her boyfriend broke up with her, and the second is of California mother, Ka Yang, who cooked her infant daughter in the microwave after experiencing a seizure.  Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/2138506.html https://services.saccourt.ca.gov/PublicCaseAccess/Criminal/CaseDetails https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/woman-jailed-for-life-for-killing-baby-daughter-by-putting-her-in-the-microwave-in-us-a6779576.html https://www.youtube.com/@HmongLife/search?query=ka%20yang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dec_WIvD8lU&ab_channel=FACESofEpilepsy http://www.metnews.com/articles/2021/Infanticide_072921.htm https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/sacramento-woman-to-stand-trial-in-microwave-death-of-baby/ https://www.change.org/p/the-public-justice4ka-give-ka-yang-medical-care-not-life-in-prison https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/norcal-mom-killed-baby-in-microwave-cops/1894582/ https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/KSMF/date/2011-3-17 https://abuseangels.wixsite.com/abuseangels/mirabelle-thao-lo https://mail.murderpedia.org/female.Y/y/yang-ka.htm https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article44774280.html https://www.change.org/p/the-public-justice4ka-give-ka-yang-medical-care-not-life-in-prison https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71822101/mirabelle-thao-lo#source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpUGG6asx6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3Vzuz2u0b8

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Investing involves risk to principle regardless of the strategy used. Task performance does not guarantee future results. Your baby's first tooth or your toddler's first steps. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case for the two mothers in today's story. Lamora Williams was born on December 13, 1992. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with her mother, her father, and her sister Tabitha. Everything suggests she grew up a loved child, often called red by her friends. family. However, her mother believed that from the very beginning she had mental health problems.

She was pulled out of school and homeschooled by her mother. Her mom remembers several incidents starting from when she was young, stating she would do simple things like cutting my other daughter and her doll's heads off. You know, we only can see this stuff in horror movies. I was afraid since then. Lamora had her first child whom we'll refer to as LW when she was about 17 years old. However, the relationship with LW's father was not stable and the two broke up. She met Jemeel Penn shortly afterwards and the two began dating. Lamora was in high school at the time and Jemil was no longer in school. They had their first child whom we'll refer to as J.P. a few years later. On April 20th, 2014, three months after the birth of J.P., Lamora's boyfriend discovered

Lamora's father dead. Sadly, this was the start of a long decline for the young mother. Everyone agreed that her father had been a rock, the person who helped her with any problem she had in life. Mother saw her mental health issues begin to worsen. Miscarriage that same year caused her mental state to further decline. While Jamil and Lamora's relationship continued, it was the beginning of the end. After having two more children, Jakarta Rashad Penn, and Kianti Andre Penn, Jamil left LaMora. Jamil said Lamora was just not right. Her depression slowly became more and more distressing for him.

Amora's sister Tabitha Hollingsworth was worried for both Lamora and for her nephews. She knew her sister had attempted to remove herself from this earth and believed her to be suffering from postpartum depression. Tabitha contacted the division of family and children's services several times, but nothing came of it. She believed her sister to be unsupported by the father of her children and overwhelmed. Her mother, Brenda Williams, contacted DFCS and the police department as well, attempting to get them to give her custody of Lomora's children. Brenda said she had issues, and the fact that the state failed her, that's a problem.

Nothing was done by the police or by DFCS. Family offered to help Lomora worried that she would do something to herself, but she wouldn't let them help her. Sadly, Her issues came to a head in October of 2017. Everything started with a call to 911, late in the evening of October 13, 2017. Lamora told the dispatcher that she had,

and I quote, a question, if this is a serious matter. She reported that she left her children with her cousin earlier that day. When she arrived home that evening, she found the apartment door open. She told the dispatcher that when she went into the house, quote,

the stove was laying on my youngest son's head and my other son was laid out on the floor with his brains laid out. She then asked the dispatcher what she should do. When asked where she was located, Lamora seemed only to be concerned about if she would get into trouble. Lamora finished the 911 call

breaking down into tears for her children. When the police and other emergency services arrived a few minutes later, they confirmed that one-year-old Jakarta and his two-year-old brother Kianti had received brutal injuries to their heads and were obviously deceased. Three-year-old JP had seen everything that night as he was there at the apartment. Luckily, L.W. was staying with other family members. As police investigated and spoke to neighbors and friends, they found reason to question her story.

First, they discovered she had quit her job nearly a month before the deaths, having told friends that she wasn't able to find a regular babysitter and that it was too difficult to work and take care of the children. However, neighbors reported that she often left the children home alone. It also reported that the apartment had smelled like death for several days, needing police to question Lamora's timeline. Mora's friend Nisha Smith reported that she had called her that night, telling her the children were dead and that she didn't know what to do. Nisha begged her to call the police. Instead, she called the children's father, Jamil. Jamil Penn reported to the police that Lamora had called him telling him that she found his children dead.

Jamil didn't believe her knowing about her mental health issues. After hanging up with her, Lamora called again. This time it was a video call. She showed him the gruesome scene of his two children lying dead on the kitchen floor. Then called 911 himself, left work, and rushed to her home. He continued the investigation. Exema is unpredictable. But you can flare less with ebbglis.

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police department, they found no one. Lamora was unable to say which cousin it was. Evidence was starting to suggest that Lamora was withholding information. The police quickly formed a different picture than what Lamora had told them. He believed that Lamora had become overwhelmed by raising the children. Combined with her depression and other mental health issues, the police believed that she was neglecting her kids and was no longer focused on them. Things reach a boiling point. She may have simply been so overwhelmed that she sought the only way out that she could think of, causing their deaths than attempting to hide the evidence. A warrant was issued for arrest and she was taken into custody on the morning of October 16th. Lamora Williams was officially

charged by the state of Georgia with two counts of felony murder, multiple charges of cruelty to children, and a charge of making a false statement to police. She was given no bond and was placed into the custody of the Fulton County Jail. She was placed on a 24-hour watch at the request of her mother as Brenda was worried that Lamor might be a risk to herself and others. New developments, a mother accused of killing her children and leaving them in an oven is preparing to fight for her innocence. Channel 2's Matt Johnson, live in downtown Atlanta, Matt prosecutors revealed more than a dozen charges against her. And she remained quiet in court today as all 14 disturbing charges were read aloud. Prosecutors say she may have burned her own children to keep investigators from knowing how they've really died.

The cause the death. Lamor Williams stood silent in front of a judge Monday accused of murdering her own two children and leaving them in an oven. She stared at a prosecutor as he read the 14 charges against her, including two counts of murder. A grand jury indicted the 24-year-old mother last month for the deaths of her two-year-old and one-year-old sons, Keante and Jakarta. Police found the two boys in an oven, October 13th in Williams' apartment in southwest Atlanta. Her family members told us at the time that Williams felt overwhelmed. as a single mother of four. When I saw that mug shot of her, I knew that was not my little sister.

Police say Williams first said a caregiver was watching the boys at the time of their deaths, but police later ruled that out. Williams pleaded not guilty Monday through her attorney to four of the 14 charges. The other charges, including murder, will be addressed at a separate hearing. At the time of her arrest, her family was concerned how long she would last in jail. I just came from the jail house to let them know to put her in the street. Why, because she's going to cut herself. Williams will be back in court next Friday. Her attorney filed a demurre motion this morning,

which means that they could be challenging most of the charges, including murder, in court. Alive in downtown Atlanta, Matt Johnson, Channel 2 Action News. This began a long, long trial process for Lamora. Four lawyers were rotated through before her defense team was finally settled. Her ongoing mental health issues remained while she was in jail, causing the judge to order a mental health evaluation in 2022. 2020 was of course the start of the pandemic, complicating the court timing and procedure even further. On September 29th of 2020, Lomora's lawyers requested another hearing and were able to get a bond set at $500,000. Later, they filed an Eighth Amendment motion either for her to be released or for her to be transferred to a safer jail.

However, the motion was poorly formed, referring to Lomora Williams as a young man and as a he-him multiple times. This caused some to question her lawyer's efforts on her behalf, and Lamora remained behind bars as a result. Trial didn't really start until October 8th, 2024, when Lamora was found competent to stand trial and the judicial hold was lifted. While plea deals were discussed, nothing ever came of them. The jury was selected, and testimony began starting on November 4th. The jury heard the grisly details from multiple officers of the Atlanta Police Department, as well as from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. medical information was provided by Dr. Michael Henninger, formerly of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office. The autopsy report was cited in court, describing the bodies as having,

and I quote, thermal changes that appear to be entirely from dry heat and changes from prolonged exposure to heat. It would require ample time to get to this degree. The report was unable to determine a specific time or cause of death due to the damage from the oven. However, it was able to rule out blunt force trauma due to no broken bones being found. Others who were called to testify were Jamil Penn, as well as Lamora's friends, family, and neighbors. The defense called only a single witness, Dr. Kyle Shaw of Forensis Noctum LLC, whose purpose was to question the cause of death. Throughout the trial, Lamora professed her innocence. In the end, Lamora Williams was found guilty on all charges on November 15th. She was sentenced to life without parole plus 30.

years. She was transferred on November 27th to Lee Arindale State Prison in Raulah, Georgia to serve out the remainder of her sentence. The community came together to help the Penn family after the death of the children. The Willie A. Watkins funeral home donated funeral services for Jakarta and Keontay. A vigil was held at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church for the boys. They were both laid to rest on October 21st, 2017, at the South Dew Cemetery, the oldest historically black cemetery in the city of Atlanta. Lamora's mother and sister still question why the division of family and children's services did not respond sooner. However, no information has been released about any ongoing investigations. J.P. Now lives with his father full time. Jamil reports that they talk about his brothers.

His son knows that they are dead, but he still thought that they were. would come back. Jamil has attempted to use their story to help others, saying, I lost my two young boys to violence, and I want to be a difference maker in someone else's life. Our next story, although somewhat similar, has a very different ending. The mother, Ka Yang, had a large support system. Her husband was involved in her children's lives, and two other adult relatives lived with them in their California home. They seemed like the typical family. That was until tragedy struck.

Ka Yang was born in November of 1981 at the Rhode Island Hospital located in Providence. Her parents, Chowakou and Cha Chong Yang were of Hmong descent. A chubby child with no health issues, she was often seen at play with friends and siblings. Ka's family moved to Banning in Southern California

when she was young. After graduating high school, she went to Sacramento State University where she met, hoarded, and eventually wed Chi-Lo Thou-Lor. They had four children together, the eldest being three brothers. The youngest, Mirabelle, is the subject of today's story. Ka suffered from epileptic seizures starting at the age of 13. Her mother reported that the first one came on suddenly, happening while Ka was at her brother's house.

She woke up, unable to remember the seizure, and her tongue was always bleeding. It was, unfortunately, the first of many seizures. Court records suggest at the time Mirabelle was born, Ka had likely suffered from over 100 seizures. While she was medicated for them, Ka didn't think that the medication was helpful. There was a recurring pattern of her passing out, falling down, and usually suffering from memory loss which the seizures happened. Her husband described the seizures vividly, stating that her hands would tighten, she would drool and fall, her body would shake, and she would make incoherent noises, and that she sometimes lost control of her bladder.

He had never seen her standing or moving during the seizure before, and she often took several hours to come back to normal. Several other family members and friends were counting her trying to stand or move during the seizure, but all agreed that she showed a lack of understanding of what happened when this seizure was over. Mirabelle was born at the beginning of February in 2011, An adorable baby, she was surrounded by much of her immediate and extended family for her entire life. Besides her parents and siblings, her maternal grandmother and her uncle Valo also lived with her in her sacramento home. Ka worked from home taking care of her and her...

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Mirabelle at around 5 a.m. just before the sun came up. Ka then left Mirabelle with her mother so she could run an errand. Soon after, she came home and started getting her sons ready for school. Choa walked the two older boys to school before coming home and taking care of yard work. The morning progressed like any other day, breakfast, a bottle for Mirabelle, and Ka working on her computer. Choa was in and out of the house and reported that Mirabelle seemed a little fussy, but no more than any other day. Ka's husband Xi stated that he spoke to his wife on the phone every day, but there was nothing different about that day in particular.

Ka didn't seem unusually frustrated or stressed out as a normal day in the household. However, things changed that afternoon. Mirabelle's uncle left to pick up the two oldest boys from school around 155 p.m. Joe was back to working in the yard outside. When back inside the house, she was greeted with an odd sight. Cah was standing with Mirabelle wrapped tightly in a blanket. Caw told her mother that Mirabelle needed to go to the hospital as she was sick. However, according to Choa, Cod didn't look well.

She noticed that her daughter's face was red, she was sweaty, her pants were soaked at the thighs, and she was having problems speaking. It sounded like she'd bitter tongue. She opened her granddaughter's pajamas and saw burn marks on the baby's chest. Skin was literally peeling off of the baby. Her body was physically hot to the touch, warmer than just. being in pajamas in a blanket would suggest. Meanwhile, Vah came home with the two boys.

He could see his sister-in-law and mother-in-law standing just inside the door. Joe told him that she thought Ka had a seizure and had to call 911. Call was placed at 2.09 p.m. less than five minutes after he arrived back in the house. A call, Vaugh passed along the information that his sister-in-law had a seizure and had possibly dropped or fallen on the baby. He attempted CPR and the child at the dispatcher's direction. to no avail. Air medics and firefighters arrived less than 10 minutes later. Firefighter Brandon Gobs saw Kaah kneeling next to Mirabelle on the couch. He didn't notice anything off about

Ka but wasn't looking for it either. Another firefighter spoke to Kaah who told her that she was working at a seizure and dropped baby Mirabelle onto the heater. Caugh appeared to be calm and alert, not showing any signs of being disoriented or having memory issues. Police officer on scene who spoke to Kaad didn't notice anything that suggested it Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and all birds continue to trust and use them.

With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash special offer. a seizure and described her as being fairly calm. While examining the scene, he found a blue pacifier in the microwave. Sadly, Mirabelle was formally pronounced dead at 225 that afternoon. It took three months of investigation before the police were able to conclude what happened to Mirabelle. The little girl had suffered extensive burns, having second and third degree burns on approximately 56% of her body. She also had multiple internal burns.

The autopsy suggested that Mirabelle's stomach and small intestine had been essentially cooked. However, these injuries were inconsistent with being next to a heater, even if Mirabelle had been placed there for four to five minutes. The investigation dragged on due to how unique and odd the injuries were. It was only by researching cases with similar injury patterns that police were able to provide a troubling theory. Police have arrested a California mother after an investigation. investigation found her six-week-old baby girl died inside this home from burns suffered in a microwave oven. The child sustained unusual and rare thermal burns. The investigation revealed that these burns were consistent with only three other cases in this country with the same similar

type injuries. And that was determined those injuries occurred as a result of being burned in a microwave oven. Kaoyang is being held without bail. on suspicion of murder. The baby's death actually took place in March, but it took investigators months to determine the exact cause of death. Her neighbors were shocked. It was just unbelievable.

It's mind-boggling, something you would hear in a horror story. Neighbors said the 29-year-old seemed like a typical mother. She seemed really nice. The husband's really nice. Every time I mowed the lawn, he'll come out and go all his tar. I know they're church members.

police don't know the motive for the crime, but said if a mother doesn't want a child, there are places to drop them off, no questions asked. They take them to a firehouse or even a hospital, and then that child gets the love and attention and a family that they really deserve. Yang has three other children, all boys, who are now staying with relatives. Haven Daily Associated Press, Sacramento. On June 23, 2011, Kai Yang was arrested in charge with first-degree murder, assault on a child resulting in death,

and the use of a deadly and dangerous weapon in the commission of murder. The trial itself focused heavily on expert testimony and the interviews of folks who came into contact with Ka before and after Mirabelle's death. One expert for the state testified that Mirabelle was in the microwave for two to three minutes at a minimum to cause the type of grievous injuries she had sustained, both internally and externally. Another described how the microwave in question worked, showing that simply pushing one or two buttons would not cause the microwave to work as long as it likely had.

It took an absolute minimum of three presses of two different buttons to function for that length of time. The state's neurologist, Dr. David Treyman, testified that cause seizures were generalized onset, which would result in her falling down and biting her tongue. Defense's neurologist Dr. Paul Garcia believed that she saw, suffered from multiple kinds of seizures, some of which would allow people to, in his words, still do some automatic things. Police officer testified that Ka had told them she knew she had a seizure because she had

urinated on herself and could not remember what had happened. However, he did not recall smelling urine or noticing that Kaas' pants had looked wet. Last of the major witnesses for the state was Dr. Angela Vickers, baby Mirabelle's pediatrician. She testified that Kaoyang was screened for various postpartum mental disorders. According to Dr. Vickers, many of the stressors that have been identified as risk factors for developing postpartum simply weren't present in Ka Yang. There were no signs of family violence, marital issues, lack of support from family, complications, or other things of this nature. However, Ka's story remained the same. She said she was holding the baby, had a seizure, and she came to she didn't know what had happened.

In April of 2011, Kaah told a child protective services worker that she went blank, and woke up in bed. Bah, her brother-in-law, repeated this same story. Dr. Philip Resnick, a psychiatric physician, told the jury that the defendant most likely killed Mirabelle will in a post-dictal state following a seizure, which is to say while she was confused in acting on autopilot. However, cause psychiatric report came into play which showed a history of experiencing auditory hallucinations prior to coming into custody, including multiple just one week

after giving birth to Mirabelle. Kai Yang was convicted on all charges on November 13, 2015. She was sentenced to 26 years in the California Department of Corrections on December 18th, 2015. Unlike most trials, this one wasn't over quite so easily. While appeals of major cases are common, this one touched on a topic of interest to the court of appeals, specifically that Kay Yang's mental health records had been allowed into evidence without any direct relation to the topic at hand.

The district court also allowed testimony of postpartum mental health issue without sufficient factual basis to have them referenced in court. After all, Mirabelle's pediatrician specifically testified that Kai Yang showed no symptoms of postpartum issues. On July 28th of 2021, these combined major errors led the court of appeals to reverse the conviction, allowing Kai Yang to go free. Baby Mirabelle was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Sacramento. However, the family suffered another tragedy while Ka Yang was in custody.

In June of 2014, Ka's sister, New Yang, passed away from a seizure at her family home. She also suffered from epilepsy, just like Ka did. We know a lot of our listeners might stop to wonder if postpartum psychosis could have played a role in these two stories. In the case of Kaoyang, that diagnosis was ruled out by Dr. Vickers during her initial trial. Romer Williams' sister Tabitha wondered if she had been suffering from postpartum depression, but it appears that avenue was never explored by her defense, despite Lamora's history of mental health issues. However, from the sounds of it, her defense team didn't really give her the best representation either. Now, moms, if you're dealing with thoughts of harming yourself or your

babies, please know that there is no shame in reaching out for help. We all know that motherhood can be overwhelming at times, especially in today's economy, especially if you don't have a good support system in place. Because do not feel afraid to reach out for help. We need you here alive, healthy, and taking care of your little ones because they need their mothers too.