Crime & Justice

Texas nurse charged in murder of mother, kidnapping of baby

A nurse has admitted to fatally shooting a young mother in a town near Houston and abducting the dying woman’s newborn son whom she apparently intended to adopt, authorities said Wednesday.

Published

12 years ago

April 18, 2012

Unheard Voices Staff

A Texas nurse has admitted to fatally shooting a young mother in a town near Houston and abducting the dying woman’s newborn son whom she apparently intended to adopt, authorities said Wednesday.

Verna McClain is charged with capital murder in the killing of 28-year-old Kala Marie Golden. Witnesses saw a woman repeatedly shoot Golden on Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of a pediatric clinic in Spring. She then drove away with Golden’s 3-day-old son Keegan who was found Tuesday evening, unharmed, at a home with McClain’s sister, authorities said.

According to a Montgomery County (Texas) arrest record, McClain, 30, admitted to shooting Golden and taking Keegan to Harris County, where the baby was subsequently found. Houston is in Harris County and McClain listed an address in the city as her home, according to jail records.

She is being held without bail.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s office said in a statement that officers found Keegan with Corina Jackson, McClain’s sister. Jackson told investigators that McClain told her she would need to “do the adoption,” according to the county record.

Witnesses say an argument broke out between Golden and another woman on Tuesday afternoon as Golden left Northwoods Pediatric Center in Spring, about 20 miles north of Houston.

The woman repeatedly shot Golden then snatched Keegan from her and began to drive away in a blue or light green Lexus, according to witness accounts. The dying woman leaned into the vehicle and tried to take Keegan back, screaming “My baby!” but her attacker sped away.

Phil Grant, the first assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, told The Associated Press that the shooting appeared to be random, but declined to comment further.

Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Texas nurse McClain’s statement to investigators indicates she shot the mother as part of a wider plan to kidnap any child and that Golden was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“There were statements as indicated in the arrest record that were made by Ms. McClain that led us to believe that, in fact, this was an intentional act on her part,” Ligon said. “Not that Ms. Golden was targeted specifically, but that this was part of a plan to kidnap a child.”

He made no mention of a man whom witnesses said they saw in the blood-splattered Lexus. The sheriff’s office said authorities do not believe a second suspect is at large.

Ligon said Child Protective Service officials were looking after Keegan but that they expected the baby to soon be reunited with his father.

Keegan’s father, Keith Schuchardt, told the Houston Chronicle that he and Golden had been married for three years. Schuchardt said he learned of the shooting because as Golden lay dying she asked another woman to call him and tell him what had happened.

“I loved her, and she loved me,” Schuchardt told Houston television station KHOU. “Everything was going fine until today.”

On Tuesday evening, officers with guns and riot shields raided an apartment near the clinic after a detective noticed a parked vehicle that matched witness descriptions of the Lexus, according to the sheriff’s office.

McClain, a vocational Texas nurse, is not employed by the Northwoods Pediatrics Center, according to a receptionist at the clinic, Jackie Longoria.

Golden’s mother, Linda Golden, told the AP that she had been baby-sitting another of Kala’s sons when someone at the scene called her using her daughter’s cellphone. She rushed to the clinic but was unable to see her daughter because paramedics were trying to save her.

“I wanted to kiss her before they put her in the ambulance,” Linda Golden said.

Linda Golden said she had no idea what could have sparked the slaying and abduction.

“That’s the hardest she’s ever fought,” Linda Golden said. “She died trying to save her baby.”

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Crime & Justice

Arrests made for fatal shooting at Delaware State University

Camay Mitchell De Silva was shot and killed on April 21 while visiting her best friend at Delaware State University.

Published

7 days ago

May 13, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Camay Mitchell De Silva (Photo Source: GoFundMe)

Authorities have announced arrests have been made for the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Camay Mitchell De Silva last month at Delaware State University.

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Arrests made in Delaware State shooting of Camay Mitchell De Silva

De Silva was shot and killed by a stray bullet on April 21 while visiting her best friend who attended Delaware State University.

Police announced in a press release that 20-year-old Destry Jones and 18-year-old Damien Hinson, both from Dover, are being charged with the murder of Camay Mitchell De Silva.

The pair are also charged with the attempted murder of two other young men in connection with the April 21 shooting.

Jones was arrested in Brooklyn, New York and Hinson was arrested later that day in Dover, police said.

According to authorities, neither of the suspects in this case are enrolled at or affiliated with Delaware State University.

Police claimed Jones and Hinson were involved in a fight with two other men before shots were fired. Investigators do not believe De Silva was the intended target or involved in the altercation.

Beloved taken too soon

De Silva was a 2023 graduate of Concord High School who graduated with a 3.0. She spent her first semester of college at Morgan State University in Baltimore but decided she wanted to come home to Delaware.

She then attended Delaware Technical Community College and planned to attend DSU in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with the goal of working in cybersecurity.

Crime & Justice

Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service

Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 28, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Elijah McClain's family to receive $15 million from the city of Aurora

Elijah McClain and Jeremy Cooper (CBS News)

Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.

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Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced

He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.

Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.

Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.

Police stop turns fatal

McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.

He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.

The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.

Crime & Justice

Honor student killed by stray bullet while visiting Delaware State University

A shooting at Delaware State University has claimed the life of 18-year-old honor student Camay Mitchell De Silva.

Published

3 weeks ago

April 26, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Camay Mitchell De Silva

Camay Mitchell De Silva, of Wilmington, Delaware, was shot and killed Sunday, on the Delaware State University campus.

The 18-year-old was visiting her best friend, a Delaware State student, when the tragic shooting occurred.

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She was an honor student

She then attended Delaware Technical Community College and planned to attend DSU in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with the goal of working in cybersecurity.

De Silva often hung out on campus with her best friend to get comfortable before attending DSU.

Delaware State shooting

The family said De Silva was visiting that friend at DSU on Saturday, April 20, and attended a party on campus that night. Around 1:40 a.m. on April 21, DSU Police received a report of shots fired on campus. The responding officers found De Silva in a residence hall suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper body. The officers administered aid and then took her to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.

Police say De Silva was not the intended target. Dover Police Department Chief Thomas Johnson Jr. told NBC10 there was a dispute that she was not involved in and she was hit by a stray bullet.

The suspects were seen fleeing the area and no arrests have been made, said authorities.

Dover Police released a statement from De Silva’s family requesting time to grieve and to plan for her celebration of life.