The Dark Diaries

29/07/2025

Mommy Murderers Part. 4

“I know what I did was horrible,” Smith said, pausing and then continuing with a wavering voice. “And I would give anything if I could go back and change it.”

Susan Smith is an American woman who was convicted of murd3r!ng her two sons, three-year-old Michael and one-year-old Alexander, in 1994 by strapping her children in their car seats, and rolling her car containing her two children into John D. Long Lake in South Carolina. The case gained international attention because of Smith's false claim that a black man had kidn@pped her sons during a carjacking.

Her defense attorneys, David Bruck and Judy Clarke, called expert witnesses to testify that she had mental health challenges that impaired her judgment when she committed the crimes. Smith was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

Smith was first eligible for parole on November 20, 2024, which was denied. She is incarcerated at the Leath Correctional Institution near Greenwood, South Carolina.

A parole board decided unanimously that Susan Smith should remain in prison, despite her plea that God has forgiven her for infamously k!ll!ng her two young sons 30 years ago.

It was the first parole hearing for Smith age 53, who is serving a life sentence after a jury convicted her but decided to spare her the d3@th penalty. She is eligible for a parole hearing every two years now that she has spent 30 years behind bars.

Smith made international headlines in 1994 when she insisted for nine days that a Black carjacker drove away with her sons. Prosecutors have long argued that Smith k!lled 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex because she believed they were the reason the wealthy son of the owner of the business where she worked broke off their aff@ir. Her attorneys blame her mental health.

27/07/2025

Wow 💔

The five-day-old was killed by a child from another family. RIP 💔 Read more: https://trib.al/e2S6xog

26/07/2025

I am Toni Chester and I was taken away at only 17 years old. I am sharing my story today.

From the state where everything shined all year round, I was born in The Magic City better known as Miami. The home of many rappers including The Baddest Chick who happens to be my aunt Trina. My family called me Baby Suga because I was as sweet as can be. I meant everything to my mom and my aunt, we all did everything together. I was always included in their girls' trips and got to see more of the world than an average 17 year old. People would say I was spoiled but I would say that I was blessed. In my short time I have been to Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Vegas, California, Texas, and Chicago. I was my aunt Trina’s sidekick and I always showed her the newest trends and kept her up to date. I was preparing to start my journey as a senior in high school and I was going to hit the ground running. With my big heart and sassy attitude I was more than prepared to face the real world but my time was unfortunately and tragically cut short.

July 22nd 2022, I would be with my boyfriend inside of a black Mercedes Benz riding around Miami. We would make a stop just after midnight in the 1300 block of Northwest 62nd Lane. There was a domestic incident involving multiple parties when suddenly our car was riddled with bullets striking a window and the rear windshield… I would pass away on the scene from my injuries before police would get there. My family discovered that I was not actually in the car but I was outside the car as I was walking from a corner store. My boyfriend and another male who were in their mid 20’s were injured and were taken to the hospital but they were in stable condition. No one knows exactly why it occurred but they do know that us victims did know the suspects, however, no arrest has been made. The vehicle was found a mile away from the actual scene. I was not from the area so the police were unclear on who the intended target was but it was a big scene covering miles between where I was located and where the car was located. Police think that another incident was potentially connected to our case.

I had so much future ahead of me, following my aunt’s footsteps in being a rapper. My talent was literally unmatched and I was going places in this life. I was supposed to graduate and begin my journey to adulthood but I instead leave a legacy and impact on those who know me.

I am so sorry that this happened to you Suga, may you rest peacefully 🕊️.

26/07/2025

Mommy Murderers Part. 3

Marybeth Tinning is an American murd3r3r and suspected serial k!ller who was convicted in New York State of the murd3r of her ninth child, 4-month-old daughter Tami Lynne, on December 20, 1985. She is suspected to be similarly involved in the previous d3@ths of her eight children, all of which took place within the span of fourteen years. The causes of d3@th for Tinning's first eight children was initially thought to be genetic. Even when their sixth child, Michael who was adopted and not of blood relation who d!ed in 1981, authorities failed to open an investigation.

Eventually, Schenectady County prosecutors had enough evidence a laboratory test indicating d3@th from asphyx!a by suffoc@tion to charge Tinning in Tami Lynne's death. In July 1987, she was convicted of second-degree murd3r and sentenced to twenty years to life in prison. An appeal to the New York Supreme Court, arguing that her confession was coerced and there was insufficient evidence to convict her, was denied.

23/07/2025

23/07/2025

Deceitful Dads Part.2

“We told them Josh was capable of killing the children,” Cox said. “We had warned them of that very possibility. We told them of our concern that if Josh Powell was cornered and was going to lose the children or be arrested, he would be capable of k!lling the children and himself. And that is exactly what happened.”

On the morning of February 5, 2012 in Tacoma WA, a social worker took brothers Charlie Powell, 7, and Braden Powell, 5, to see their father. It was supposed to be a supervised visit with Josh Powell, the dad in question who remained a “person of interest” in the 2009 disappearance of Susan Powell, the boys’ mother. Instead, Josh reportedly rushed the kids inside and pushed the social worker out of the house.

While the social worker called 911 for backup, Josh supposedly struck Charlie and Braden with an axe, and then set off an explosion that blew up the entire residence. All three Powells died in the detonation.

Searchers have never turned up Susan Powell’s body, and Josh was never charged with any foul play. The missing mom’s family, however, believes entirely that he k!lled her, and investigators continually eyeballed him. Susan’s parents, as a result, obtained custody of Charlie and Braden.

Powell also sent long emails detailing what to do with his money, house utilities, and other aspects of his life to cousins, his pastor, and friends just minutes before he ignited the explosion that k!lled himself and his children and left his house a charred ruin.

In the emails, Powell said he could not live without his boys. He lost custody of his children after his father, Steven Powell was arrested on child p**n charges last fall. Josh Powell and his sons were living with Steven Powell. At the hearing Wednesday, a letter from police said that images found on Josh's computer were concerning for the welfare of the children.

21/07/2025

2 women arrested after deadly manhattan crash involving a stolen vehicle

Kevin Crukshank, 55, and May Kwok, 63, were killed when officials say a stolen car speeding off the Manhattan Bridge lost control on Saturday

Crukshank, an avid cyclist, was riding when he was hit. Kwok was sitting on a bench nearby.

Driver, 23 year old Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero and her 22 year old passenger Kennedy Lecraft can be seen on camera plowing over two bystanders and plowing into a NYPD van totaling the stolen blue Chevy Malibu immediately.

Both suspects would fled the scene of the accident but were caught shortly after nearby.

Romero, who was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, was charged with murder, manslaughter, possession of stolen property and gun possession after prosecutors said cops found a gun and ammunition in the stolen vehicle after the fatal crash.

Lecraft was arraigned earlier on Monday on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon.

Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Shamahs set bail for Lecraft at $150,000 cash or a $300,000 bond.

Records show that Romero already had another pending criminal case tied to a traffic mishap in Brooklyn in April that left a 22-year-old woman seriously injured, but was free without bail.

In the deadly Saturday morning incident, the Chevy had been rented last month but was overdue at an Enterprise Rent-a-Car lot by 17 days, law enforcement sources said.

According to sources the stolen vehicle was loaded with alcohol and drug$.

Images of Kevin are included, unfortunately I could not find images of May.

20/07/2025

Deceitful Dads Part 1.

On February 20, 2016 in Syracuse NY, 21-month-old Maddox Lawrence and her father Ryan Lawrence went missing. The adorable toddler had inspired millions online by beating a rare form of eye cancer, but now she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Maddox’s father, Ryan Lawrence, who had been described as “unstable.”

After a single day on the run, Ryan claims he asked God to send him a sign to let Maddox live. When he didn’t see one, he proceeded to b3@t his baby daughter to d3@th, light her on fire, and then weigh her body down with cement before dumping it in a creek.

After being caught, Ryan avoided the d3@th penalty by pleading no contest to kidnapping and murd3r charges. A judge sentenced him to 25 years and noted, “You deserve to spend the rest of your life in jail.”

20/07/2025

Mommy Murderers Part 2.

In 1983, Diane Downs sh0t her children in a car in Springfield. She would later claim that a stranger tried to carjack her, sh00ting her and her three children who were in the car. One of her children, seven-year-old Cheryl Downs, d!3d. Her three-year-old son Danny survived but was paralyzed from the waist down, while her eight-year-old daughter Christy also survived, but suffered a disabling stroke. In 1984, a jury found her guilty of murd3r after an investigation found evidence that cast doubt on her narrative. Downs was sentenced to life plus 50 years in prison.

Downs is currently serving her sentence in California, and has maintained her innocence ever since her conviction. In February 2024, Downs filed a petition in Marion County asking for relief from what she calls a wrongful conviction. She claimed that the jury in her case was not unanimous of four of her charges, voting 10 to two on charges of attempted murder and assault. Downs claimed the Supreme Court has found this type of nonunanimous jury verdict violates the right to a fair trial in scores of cases. In late October 2024, a judge granted her an extension on her petition as her attorney works to gather evidence in that case.

Downs’ surviving children were later adopted by the prosecuting attorney. A fourth child, born in jail, was adopted by another family. Downs’ case was the subject of a book by Ann Rule called “Small Sacrifices” that was made into a TV movie starring Farrah Fawcett as Downs.

She briefly escaped in 1987 but was quickly recaptured.

18/07/2025

I am Danyna Gibson and I was taken away at only 16 years old. I am sharing my story today.

Being an honor student at Warren Fitzgerald High School was truly an honor. Unlike most schools, popularity was driven by those who were at the top of the education chain more so than fitting a standard. There was a group of us who were friends including me and Tanaya Lewis with the same goal…valedictorian. Me and Tanaya were both straight A students and would participate in a friendly competition over getting the best grades but things turn bad when we begin to compete over a boy.

September 2017 started a new year at Fitzgerald High School with Danyna and Tanaya being seniors. I knew that I was very smart and I took great pride in that. Robotics was my favorite, I had a goal of becoming valedictorian so I put everything into my studies. I had a lot of friends but I had about 6 close friends who I would be with daily, Tanaya was one of my friends at the time. Tanaya was also on top of her studies as well but unlike me she was more shy and introverted. Tanaya had been dating her boyfriend Evan for about two years and he was one of the boys that a lot of girls in school were attracted to. Despite Evan giving Tanaya a promise ring and walking her to class daily she would still be insecure.

Unintentionally Evan and I would be paired as study partners and would often study at Evans home together but that wouldn't sit well with Tanaya. I wasn’t going to let Tanaya push me over and dictate my relationship with my friend so we continued to study like we needed to. Tanaya was no longer my friend at this point, we were now considered to be enemies. I would hear Evan’s phone ringing and ringing and it would be text messages from Tanaya telling him that I should leave and sending threats. Tanaya had started to give me nasty looks in the hallways… it was evident that she did not want to be friends anymore.

The controlling behavior had gotten worse so I suggested that he should focus more on his studies because her possessiveness was overbearing him. Tanaya had asked Evan to track his location through his cellphone and that would be the last straw. Evan had decided to bring things off with Tanaya. I would feel relieved about the break up because we could finally study peacefully and enjoy our friendship. I was not interested in Evan, only as a friend… Developed a crush for another guy at our school named Jack. I would share with my friends at lunch that I had a crush on Jack not knowing that Tanaya was listening in…until I seen that her and Jack were dating.

I would confront her about dating Jack and told her that it was a violation of girl code…I had to get even. I joined the cross country team after discovering that Evan is apart of it. Tanaya would see that I was on the team and break things off with Jack to go back to Evan…She wanted to feel in control of the competition. After getting back together, she starts to lose it again realizing that this will not change Evan and I’s connection. We would still run together and study together. Going with his best judgement after the explosiveness continued Evan ended things again.

September 2018 we would start our senior year of high school, everyone would notice a shift in Tanaya. She was more closed off, listening to music constantly and wearing a hoodie daily. Before the school year could get going good the gossip had started. A friend of Tanaya would tell me that she had cheated on Evan months ago. This was a secret that was supposed to be kept but Evan was my friend and I battled with if I should tell him or not…ultimately I decided to let him know. The following week I would tell Evan that Tanaya had cheated on him the previous spring. If Evan wasn’t sure about not getting back with Tanaya this would solidify it.

Evan, hurt and furious about what he had been told, wanted to completely cut ties with Tanaya and asked for his promise ring back. Tanaya is confused but she had an idea of who would tell him that…her idea was me. I got ahead of all of the rumors and decided to call Tanaya and apologize but Tanaya would not accept my apology and told me that something would happen….I began to prepare for a fight the next day. She would text me letting me know that I had made the biggest mistake.

September 12 2018, I will meet up with some friends to discuss the conversation that I had with Tanaya. Tanaya would walk her dogs and have Evan pick her up. She would constantly try and apologize to Evan on their ride to school but that would only further anger him. As they are heading to class Tanaya hands Evan $100 and told him that was all that she had. Evan found it odd but he’d take it anyway. I was unusually quiet that day focused on the unknown but I felt as though it would be nothing that I could not handle.

We would enter 2nd period, economics, I’d see Tanaya slouched down in her seat and she was listening to Lil U*i Vert- XO Tour Life over and over. In this song Lil U*i repeatedly says “push me to the edge, all my friends are d3ad”. Class would start with students raising their hands to do the good news topic of the morning. I had taken heed to the threats that Tanaya had made so I walked inside of the classroom and bumped her books off the side of her desk as I walked by, if it was going to be a fight it needed to be on my terms. About ten minutes into class the teachers would have everyone break into groups to work. Partners began to walk to the front of the room, during that time Tanaya would text Evan and tell him that it’s time.

Tanaya would start to walk towards me and I’d feel a sharp object poke me so I’d get out of my seat doing a fast paced walk around the classroom with her following behind me…no one thought anything of it initially until they began to see droplets of bl00d trailing the floor. This sends the classroom into a panic with other students running around, jumping on desks, and calling 911. The initial calls would reveal that a student had been bl33ding but there were no w3@pons. Other classrooms were becoming aware of what was happening and the school was becoming more and more chaotic, so much so that a lockdown had to be enforced.

The school resource officer would enter the classroom and see me lying on the floor with a knif3 beside me. He would immediately start performing CPR as the students were being moved into another classroom. Evan was a nearby classroom confused by the text her received and the commotion in the halls. He would text his friend that’s in Tanaya’s class and say “Hey did Tanaya do something?” The friend responds by telling Evan that she had stabb3d me. Tanaya had a sinister look as she chased me and would say out loud that she was going to k!ll me. The teacher pulled her out classroom and she’d try and fight to get back in while screaming out to me that I told Evan and that she hope that I d!e…ultimately I did.

Autopsy shows that I had approximately 4 st@b wounds including one to the heart, two to my back, and one to my lung. The emergency department tried their hardest but I was unable to be saved. I had a bright future ahead of me I just got mixed with the wrong circle. I would have been everything that I wanted to be as I was on the right track to do so. My presence and spirit is missed most by my family and friends.

I am so sorry that this happened to you Danyna, may you rest peacefully 🕊️.

16/07/2025

Mommy Murderers Part.1

In July 2008, 2-year-old Caylee Anthony was reported missing by her grandparents. Three months later, her mother was charged with her passing.

According to authorities, Casey left the family's home on June 16, 2008, with Caylee and didn't return for 31 days. After learning that Casey's car had been impounded, George, her dad, went to retrieve the car, where he discovered a strong smell coming from the trunk.

On July 15, 2008, Cindy, Casey’s mom called 911 and said she hadn't seen Caylee in 30 days. She also claimed that Casey's car smelled like a d3@d body had been inside it.

At the time, Casey claimed that she hadn't seen Caylee in a month and that a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez may have kidnapped her.

The day that Caylee went missing there were suspicious google searches on their family computer indicating that someone had plans to commit su!c!de.

The judge sentenced Casey to, consecutively, one year in the county jail and $1,000 in fines for each of the four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer, the maximum penalty allowed by law.

Due to lack of evidence, Casey was never officially charged in the passing of Caylee.