An Arkansas couple is sentenced to 70 years in prison for leaving their four young children in a hot car, killing two, while another child in the hospital… for abuse. A man in Texas is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 2004 rape and murder of a 20-year-old mother whose burned body was found days after she vanished from her home. Drew Nelson reports.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Neilson, an Arkansas couple a sentenced to seventy
years in prison for leaving their four young children in
a hot car, killing two of them while another of
their children was in the hospital for abuse.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We don't typically see sentences this high because we don't
typically have cases that are this egregious. And it was
a murder. Second degree murder is what they pled to.
So when you murder two people, that sentence is going
to be higher.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
On Friday, Dejah Rawlins, aged twenty eight, and Justin Rawlins, thirty,
pleaded guilty in Pulaski County to two counts of second
degree murder and one count of first degree domestic battery.
The charges followed the deaths of their two year old son, Jadine,
and their three year old child, whose name has not
been released. Medical evidence showed both children died from severe malnutrition.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's an extreme amount of malnourishment that it takes place
over a long period of time. I would almost call it,
compare it to torture because this is not something that
happens over nine.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
And Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones, speaking to KATV. Jay
Dean also suffered fatal heat exhaustion, while another child, aged four,
survived but had injuries consistent with long term abuse. The
case began July seventh of twenty twenty four, when police
responded to Arkansas Children's Hospital and Little Rock. Officers learned
a three year old from the Rawlins family was being
(01:18):
treated there for urgent medical problems related to abuse. Around
twelve thirty that afternoon, security staff got a call from
Jacksonville police alerting them to four children trapped in a
hot car parked at the hospital. Security found all four
children severely affected by heat. Hospital staff took the children
inside for immediate care. Jay Dean died the next day
(01:38):
from his injuries. Along with their capital murder charges, Justin
and Dejah Rollins also face counts of endangering miners and
animal cruelty after police found a neglected dog at their home.
The animal cruelty charge was later dropped. In the plea deal,
authorities credited Little Rock and Jacksonville police departments, and Arkansas
Children's Hospital for their role in the investigation.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Got to get it. Everybody working together in this case
is a perfect example of that. We would not have
gotten this plea and not have gotten this resolution this quickly,
for this family, for these children to move on, if
it weren't for all of these folks working together.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
More crime in justice news after this. A man in
Texas is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the two
thousand and four rape and murder of a twenty year
old mother, whose burned body was found days after she
vanished from her home. Moyes's Sound of All. Mendoza was
sentenced to death for killing Rochelle O'Neill Tullison in Farmersville,
(02:35):
a small town northeast of Dallas, on the night of
March eighteenth of two thousand and four. Mendoza let himself
into Tullison's home while her infant daughter, Avery slept. He
later told police he convinced Tullisin to leave the house
with him to get cigarettes in his truck. He says
he began to choke her quote for no reason. He
then drove to a nearby field, where he raped and
strangled her. He stabbed her in the throat to make
(02:57):
sure she was dead. He left the body near his
home for several days. When police began asking around, he
moved the body to a cousin's property, set it on fire,
and buried it under some brush. A man searching for
arrowheads found the remains a few days later. Police confirmed
the identity through dental records. Tulison's baby had been left
alone at the house. Police found signs of a struggle
(03:18):
inside the home. Mendoza confessed to the murder days later, saying, quote,
I turned into the devil. Prosecutors pointed to his earlier
crimes and described him as quote one of the most violent,
sadistic men they had encountered. A jury sentenced him to
death in two thousand and five. He has spent nearly
twenty years on death row, with no disciplinary violation since
two thousand and eight. Tullison was a new mother when
(03:40):
she died. Her parents described her as devoted to her
young daughter. Her mother told Mendoza in court, quote, you
took from Rochelle what she wanted most. She wanted, more
than anything in life, to watch her baby take her
first steps, say her first word, and she'll never get
to hear her daughter call her mommy. Mendoza is now forty.
He has filed appeals and requested clemency. Supporters say he
(04:01):
has changed and found faith in prison. Texas authorities say
the execution will proceed as planned. Mendoza will be the
third person executed by Texas in twenty twenty five. He's
set to die by lethal injection. A woman from New
York vanishes after meeting with a man she says she feared,
and no trace of her or her car has ever
(04:22):
been found. Anna Marie Savetti was last seen on August
nineteenth of nineteen ninety eight. She left her job at
for Our Foods in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and drove
back to Staten Island. Phone records show she called Charles Chorman,
her ex boyfriend. That night, the two were seen at
a bar where they were known to be regulars. Witnesses
said Anna seemed happy, but Chorman looked angry. Anna later
(04:45):
didn't show up for a dinner with her new roommate
and also missed a meeting to pay the deposit for
their new apartment in Tottenville. Anna's dog and one thousand
dollars in cash were left behind in her temporary apartment.
Her car was never found. Her family said she would
never have left her behind. She had bipolar disorder and
needed daily medication. Chorman was the last person known to
have seen her. A witness saw him the next morning
(05:08):
with scratches on his face and hands. He said he'd
been in a bar fight and refused to talk to police.
Shortly after she moved out of their shared home, her
new apartment burned down in what was called a suspicious fire.
Years later, prosecutors linked her case to another missing woman,
Elizabeth Bump, who vanished in nineteen ninety three. Bump was
Chrman's sister in law and rumored lover. Her car was
(05:29):
found white, clean, and she was never seen again. Chortman
has not been charged in either woman's case and maintains
his innocence, and his family is still offering a fifty
thousand dollars reward. Anyone with information is asked to contact
NYPD at six four six six' ten sixty nine Fourteen
for the latest crime and justice. News Follow Crime alert
hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this crime.
(05:51):
ALERT I Andrew.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Nelson how could a, beautiful young first grade teacher be
stabbed twenty, times including in the, back allegedly die of? Suicide,
yes that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a
(06:13):
closed door.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Meeting he first named it a. Homicide why what happened
To Ellen greenberg a Huge american miscarriage of. Justice for
an in depth look at the, facts see What happened
To ellen On. Amazon all proceeds to The National center
(06:36):
For missing And Exploited. Children
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Neilson, an Arkansas couple a sentenced to seventy
years in prison for leaving their four young children in
a hot car, killing two of them while another of
their children was in the hospital for abuse.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We don't typically see sentences this high because we don't
typically have cases that are this egregious. And it was
a murder. Second degree murder is what they pled to.
So when you murder two people, that sentence is going
to be higher.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
On Friday, Dejah Rawlins, aged twenty eight, and Justin Rawlins, thirty,
pleaded guilty in Pulaski County to two counts of second
degree murder and one count of first degree domestic battery.
The charges followed the deaths of their two year old son, Jadine,
and their three year old child, whose name has not
been released. Medical evidence showed both children died from severe malnutrition.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
It's an extreme amount of malnourishment that it takes place
over a long period of time. I would almost call it,
compare it to torture because this is not something that
happens over nine.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
And Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones, speaking to KATV. Jay
Dean also suffered fatal heat exhaustion, while another child, aged four,
survived but had injuries consistent with long term abuse. The
case began July seventh of twenty twenty four, when police
responded to Arkansas Children's Hospital and Little Rock. Officers learned
a three year old from the Rawlins family was being
(01:18):
treated there for urgent medical problems related to abuse. Around
twelve thirty that afternoon, security staff got a call from
Jacksonville police alerting them to four children trapped in a
hot car parked at the hospital. Security found all four
children severely affected by heat. Hospital staff took the children
inside for immediate care. Jay Dean died the next day
(01:38):
from his injuries. Along with their capital murder charges, Justin
and Dejah Rollins also face counts of endangering miners and
animal cruelty after police found a neglected dog at their home.
The animal cruelty charge was later dropped. In the plea deal,
authorities credited Little Rock and Jacksonville police departments, and Arkansas
Children's Hospital for their role in the investigation.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Got to get it. Everybody working together in this case
is a perfect example of that. We would not have
gotten this plea and not have gotten this resolution this quickly,
for this family, for these children to move on, if
it weren't for all of these folks working together.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
More crime in justice news after this. A man in
Texas is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the two
thousand and four rape and murder of a twenty year
old mother, whose burned body was found days after she
vanished from her home. Moyes's Sound of All. Mendoza was
sentenced to death for killing Rochelle O'Neill Tullison in Farmersville,
(02:35):
a small town northeast of Dallas, on the night of
March eighteenth of two thousand and four. Mendoza let himself
into Tullison's home while her infant daughter, Avery slept. He
later told police he convinced Tullisin to leave the house
with him to get cigarettes in his truck. He says
he began to choke her quote for no reason. He
then drove to a nearby field, where he raped and
strangled her. He stabbed her in the throat to make
(02:57):
sure she was dead. He left the body near his
home for several days. When police began asking around, he
moved the body to a cousin's property, set it on fire,
and buried it under some brush. A man searching for
arrowheads found the remains a few days later. Police confirmed
the identity through dental records. Tulison's baby had been left
alone at the house. Police found signs of a struggle
(03:18):
inside the home. Mendoza confessed to the murder days later, saying, quote,
I turned into the devil. Prosecutors pointed to his earlier
crimes and described him as quote one of the most violent,
sadistic men they had encountered. A jury sentenced him to
death in two thousand and five. He has spent nearly
twenty years on death row, with no disciplinary violation since
two thousand and eight. Tullison was a new mother when
(03:40):
she died. Her parents described her as devoted to her
young daughter. Her mother told Mendoza in court, quote, you
took from Rochelle what she wanted most. She wanted, more
than anything in life, to watch her baby take her
first steps, say her first word, and she'll never get
to hear her daughter call her mommy. Mendoza is now forty.
He has filed appeals and requested clemency. Supporters say he
(04:01):
has changed and found faith in prison. Texas authorities say
the execution will proceed as planned. Mendoza will be the
third person executed by Texas in twenty twenty five. He's
set to die by lethal injection. A woman from New
York vanishes after meeting with a man she says she feared,
and no trace of her or her car has ever
(04:22):
been found. Anna Marie Savetti was last seen on August
nineteenth of nineteen ninety eight. She left her job at
for Our Foods in South Plainfield, New Jersey, and drove
back to Staten Island. Phone records show she called Charles Chorman,
her ex boyfriend. That night, the two were seen at
a bar where they were known to be regulars. Witnesses
said Anna seemed happy, but Chorman looked angry. Anna later
(04:45):
didn't show up for a dinner with her new roommate
and also missed a meeting to pay the deposit for
their new apartment in Tottenville. Anna's dog and one thousand
dollars in cash were left behind in her temporary apartment.
Her car was never found. Her family said she would
never have left her behind. She had bipolar disorder and
needed daily medication. Chorman was the last person known to
have seen her. A witness saw him the next morning
(05:08):
with scratches on his face and hands. He said he'd
been in a bar fight and refused to talk to police.
Shortly after she moved out of their shared home, her
new apartment burned down in what was called a suspicious fire.
Years later, prosecutors linked her case to another missing woman,
Elizabeth Bump, who vanished in nineteen ninety three. Bump was
Chrman's sister in law and rumored lover. Her car was
(05:29):
found white, clean, and she was never seen again. Chortman
has not been charged in either woman's case and maintains
his innocence, and his family is still offering a fifty
thousand dollars reward. Anyone with information is asked to contact
NYPD at six four six six' ten sixty nine Fourteen
for the latest crime and justice. News Follow Crime alert
hourly update on your favorite podcast app with this crime.
(05:51):
ALERT I Andrew.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Nelson how could a, beautiful young first grade teacher be
stabbed twenty, times including in the, back allegedly die of? Suicide,
yes that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a
(06:13):
closed door.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Meeting he first named it a. Homicide why what happened
To Ellen greenberg a Huge american miscarriage of. Justice for
an in depth look at the, facts see What happened
To ellen On. Amazon all proceeds to The National center
(06:36):
For missing And Exploited. Children
Host
Nancy Grace
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