Diane Downs is an Oregon woman who was convicted in 1983 of the murder of her 7-year-old daughter in a shooting that also severely injured her two other children. She was sentenced to life in prison, plus 55 years. Downs was denied parole on December 6, 2008.Seattle Times: Convicted child killer Diane Downs denied parole (December 9, 2008)

On May 19, 1983, Downs shot her three children while parked on the side of a rural road. She then shot herself in the arm. She told investigators that she had been carjacked by a "bushy-haired stranger." Much of the evidence at her trial was provided by her surviving daughter, 8-year-old Christie Downs.Oregon News: In prison, Elizabeth Diane Downs' imagination runs free (December 6, 2008)

Downs escaped from the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in 1987 but was recaptured and transferred a number of times to avert future escape attempts.Oregon News: In prison, Elizabeth Diane Downs' imagination runs free (December 6, 2008)

During Diane Down’s investigation, Downs became pregnant again by a different man. During the trial, Downs was visibly pregnant and chained. Ten days after the trial ended, Downs gave birth to a girl that she named Amy Elizabeth and the baby was snuck out of the hospital unseen by the reporters that were posted at the hospital. After that, the baby fundamentally disappeared. The adoptive girl who was renamed Rebecca Babcock by her adoptive parents had stayed anonymous until recently. In 2010, Becky decided to come forward and tell her story of what it was like to grow up knowing that she was a notorious killer’s daughter.http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2010/05/i-found-out-my-mother-was-a-killer-the-rebecca-babcock-story?currentPage=4

Becky Babcock watched the movie that starred Farrah Fawcett with her boyfriend and wept when she saw the actress portraying her mother cradling her as a baby. “Every emotion a person can feel swept over me in a haze,” says Becky. “It was like a dream. I couldn’t be from the belly of such a monster. But I was.” The movie did not show that just hours after Becky was born, officers swept her away to a small hotel where Chris and Jackie Babcock, her adoptive parents, were waiting for her.http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2010/05/i-found-out-my-mother-was-a-killer-the-rebecca-babcock-story?currentPage=4

A month before Becky Babcock’s 26th birthday in June 2010, she told her story to ABC’s 20/20 television program. Additionally, the June issue of Glamour magazine is also telling her story. Becky is now trying to find a writer/publisher for her book about her life.http://www.katu.com/news/94284344.html

"Downs continues to fail to demonstrate any honest insight into her criminal behavior. Even after her convictions, she continues to fabricate new versions of events under which the crimes occurred."—Lane County District Attorney F. Douglass HarcleroadSeattle PI: Convicted Oregon child killer is denied parole (December 9, 2008)