Suffer the Little Children Podcast

On March 11, 2014, a young woman and her older boyfriend entered the emergency room in Cullman, Alabama, carrying the lifeless body of her one-year-old son, Hoss Benham, who they said had drowned in the bathtub of their mobile home. Hoss’s injuries did not match up with the couple’s story, and after the results of an autopsy were released, both would face multiple charges, including capital murder and sexual torture. Shout-out also to Ana at Apple for the Teacher Podcast, whose promo you heard at the top of today’s episode! Subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, or your favorite podcast listening platform.

On May 25, 2017, two-year-old Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was rushed to the hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, unresponsive and suffering from infected third-degree burns that had been inflicted in the family’s bathtub five days prior. Her parents, Shane Stokes and Nicole Moore, had not sought medical care for their little girl’s worsening condition, calling emergency services only when she stopped breathing. It’s also the story of a tiny, defenseless toddler who suffered unimaginable pain for five days with severe, untreated burns covering a fifth of her little body, which finally succumbed to the resultant infection running rampant through her bloodstream. Subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, or your favorite podcast listening platform.

Last week, I began telling you the story of 2-year-old Damian Sutton, who spent six days on life support after dying in Children’s Hospital in Detroit from a head injury incurred while in the care of a man pretending to be his mother’s boyfriend. After the man, Ronald DiMambro Jr., was convicted of Damian’s murder, a Brady violation led to Ron being granted a second trial. In this episode, I’ll tell you the rest of Damian’s story, and you’ll also hear my interview with Damian’s maternal grandmother, Tara Thompson, who Damian called “Nana. Subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, or your favorite podcast listening platform.

In episode 49, I told you the story of 20-month-old Quortney Kley, who was sexually abused and murdered on February 25, 1997 by her mother’s boyfriend, Cayce Williams. After an unthinkable nine year court process, Williams finally accepted a plea agreement in 2006, pleading guilty to murder and predatory criminal sexual assault in exchange for a 48-year prison sentence. However, due to a glitch in Illinois law that has since been corrected, Williams was only required to serve half of his sentence, and on February 25, 2021, after 24 years in prison for the rape and murder of a baby, Cayce Williams walked free from the Dixon Correctional Facility. In this minisode, I’ll cover the recent developments in Quortney’s story, including her killer’s parole, his current whereabouts, and how his release has affected Quortney’s family.