Mother Realizes She Ran Over Her Own Son

James had slipped and fell. So his shoes were sweat, slippery, and. he had hit his head. So I went to the. bathroom. I came out. He was gone. Did they kill him? Just tell me where. his body's at. On a February evening, Britney and her. boyfriend pulled over deep in the Ohio. forests with a plan to abandon James, their six-year-old child. However, as. they went to drive away, James was. tragically dragged under the wheels of. the car and had his life taken. Days.

later, they walked into the Middleton. Police Department, claiming James had. gone missing. A search began for the boy. immediately, but police knew something. was wrong. Their story was full of. holes, and the couple seemed nervous. So, they were each taken into an. interrogation room with a detective. determined to get to the bottom of. things. I'm Detective New. Okay. They called me. and my partner out for anything to do. with children. So, this is real. important. This part is you have to be. 100% honest with me with everything.

Her boyfriend, who was also called. James, was in another room at the same. police station, and detectives are going. to compare their stories. There were. many red flags right off the bat in this. case, as the couple claimed he had been. missing for most of the night before. they decided to contact police. If your. six-year-old had gone missing, you'd. likely be doing everything you can to. get them back as soon as possible. So, the cops were sure something sinister. was a foot. So, what happened? What time did you. guys go to bed last night? Well, the kids go to bed at 9:00. Okay.

And we normally go to bed at 10:00. Mhm. Last time I knew I told them told them. all it was 9 9:00 time for bed. So, they all went upstairs to the rooms. and I went upstairs a little bit later. to see if they were asleep. Sure. And they were all asleep. So then that's. when I came down, waited a couple. minutes just to see if they might have. come down stairs or something and then I. went to bed. Okay. What time did you get up this. morning? Um, he woke me up at 8. He woke you up at 8.

He said he tried to wake me up several. times, but. But you don't medicine. So. what kind of medicine do you take? I take anxiety meds. Okay. This is where I need you to be. honest with me. It is what it is. Okay. Do you use any other type of narcotics, drugs, illegal drugs or anything? Do you. smoke weed? Do you. Okay. You don't use heroin? You don't. use u. No, I've had family members that stuff. and. Okay. Do you know that pushes me away? Do you know if your um boyfriend does?

Does he use any type of dope at all? Not. that you know of. Well, you would know. more than anybody. That's what I'm. asking. You're not going to get him in. any trouble. I just need to know if. you're being honest with me. That's what. I'm trying to feel. I mean, I've never seen I mean, we smoke. cigarettes. I'm not talking about that. I said. drugs. Illegal. [clears throat]. Of course, a lot of people smoke. cigarettes. A lot of people smoke weed. A lot of people use. I mean, he smokes weed, but that's the. only thing I know. Okay, that's all.

I don't know if he does anything else. Okay, you don't need to protect him. I'm. just getting I'm getting a feel for you. if you're going to be honest. I just. need you to be honest with me. honest. Britney appears to have a little trouble. opening up about her boyfriend's drug. habit. This can help the detective. determine whether she is being honest in. the future, as she should treat opening. up about later details with similar. ease. They continue to go over the. details for the morning James went. missing. But during this line of. questioning, Britany begins to show some. concerning signs. What time did James say that he first.

noticed James missing? The the. six-year-old missing. Well, he I don't know what time he. exactly got up, but he normally every. day normally he gets up around 4. Anywhere from 4:00 to 5, maybe sometimes. a little later. But. when Britney is asked more questions. about her boyfriend, she appears to look. up and to the left. There's a lot of. contention around eye movements while. recalling information. Some say the. direction that someone looks is a direct.

tell for if someone is lying, but it's. never a guaranteed indication. However, the mere act of suddenly avoiding eye. contact with the detective while. answering is a more solid sign, as many. people associate eye contact with trust. Thus, it's often hard for people to. maintain a gaze while lying. Whereas, those trying to argue the truth will. often look directly into the detective's. eyes to seem more believable. Has James. ever walked out? I mean, been missing. before. Um, he's he was missing once before.

How long ago was that? Um, I want to say it was the first of. the month, but it could have been later. than that, but I know it was sometime. this month. All right. From that house? Yes. All right. So, he was missing once. before from that house. And how long was. he gone for? Um, I don't know when he was outside, but we. found out Well, he found him at the the. you know how there's basement stairs. Well, he found him at the bottom of the. basement stairs. I don't know what he. was doing, but. Is there only one way to get into your. basement?

Yeah, that's from the outside. Mhm. [clears throat]. Okay. The fact that James has been missing. before is another red flag for the. detective. It's possible James is just. an adventurous child and tries to slip. away at every opportunity he gets. but. it could also be a sign of abuse or. neglect in the home. Either way, it's. giving the detective all the more reason. to be suspicious. I've been a policeman for 27 years. Um, I've been assigned to detectives about. I've interviewed a lot of people, hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of.

people over my career. There's something. going on here. Something's not right. here. I've done this, like I said, I've. interviewed hundreds hundreds of people. over my career. And, you know, people. get scared. they get themselves backed. into a corner and they don't know what. to do. And my job is to help them. through that because sometimes it is. what it is. It's an act something. happened and you parents freak out and. um you know don't know what to do. So. just [clears throat] anything else. before I walk out of here, this is your. opportunity to be 100% straight with me.

I suspect James or this is I got mad at. the boy last night and he I spanked him. and he took off out the door or just. anything weird is fine to tell me. You're not going to tell me anything. that's going to surprise me. Okay. No, I mean, did you hurt your baby? No. Now, do you know. I love my kids. I would never hurt. Okay. Do you know who hurt your baby? No. All right. Do you know your baby's. whereabouts right now? Okay. Do you do you suspect James is.

doing anything to your baby? No. Okay. You're 100% sure on that one? Yeah. He loves him right now. Okay. Note that the detective is making a. conscious effort to refer to James as. her baby. This is in a direct attempt to. exact an emotional reaction from. Britney. This kind of specific word. holds a lot more weight than just kid or. child, as it portrays James as more. vulnerable. The detective is also trying. to let Britney know that he's sure. something is wrong. And as he'll soon.

find out, his instincts are absolutely. correct. What was the needle that we found out at. the There was a needle found at the side. door. You know anything about that? So, do you use needles for any of your. medication? No, there's u the people next doors. Okay. So, maybe it was from one of them. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. And all we always see a whole. bunch of people just walking in through. the. Oh yeah. Cutting it. Cutting through basically. But you ever seen James you had any. needles?

So you said something about James does. work. like doing electrical work for houses. Yes. Like rentals I would assume. Yes. All right. Like he gets them ready. Who does he work for? Taylor. That's the only thing I know. His name is Taylor. And was Taylor just. gave him the keys. Are these are they. all vacant? I would assume. Um I'm not sure. They go clean them out. What do they do? Do you know? I know. Like when they put people out. and they get evicted and they sit.

people's stuff out, put it I don't know. if they sit it out, put it in the. dumpster. I don't I don't know what they. do. Does he have like keys to the house? James, does he have keys to the houses. and stuff? I guess that he works for. Did he ever come in with a bunch? I. mean, you would know. I mean, did he. come up with a bunch of keys or. he's always had the same key that he. has, but nothing like extra keys that he. could. Basically, I'm waiting for my guy to. come here. He's going to do the. polygraph for me, and we'll just kind of. go from there.

Britney now tries to avoid the questions. regarding her boyfriend's drug use. But. if she does agree to take a polygraph. test, then the truth could finally be. revealed. All this time, there have been. people searching for James, hoping to. find signs of life. But as we'll later. find out, his body isn't anywhere near. where they're looking. I'm getting a story that is totally. different than what you've told me. And. I don't know why James is telling me. that, but that's what he's telling me. He's wanting to more detail than that. Okay? But I'm not going to share that. with you. I need to know what happened.

last night with your your boy, your. six-year-old. A six-year-old just. doesn't get up and walk out the door. Okay? There's more to the story than. what you're telling me. Okay. I've. talked to James. My partner's talked to. James extensively. and James is coming off of this slowly. I would suggest for you just tell me the. truth now. He might have told me more. now. I don't know. I've not I've been in. here with you. Okay. But James is he.

took a deep breath and I suggest that to. you. Take a drink of your pop. Take a. deep breath and just tell me what's. going on here. Now Britney finds herself. in a position where she might doubt. exactly what James has told detectives. in the other room. And she finally. cracks. He told James told me to get rid of the. kids. Okay. And. so. um I took them for a drive to make them. think I. want to get rid of them. But I'm not.

going to get rid of my kids for anybody. else on the planet. Even though she's. getting closer to the truth, Britney is. still trying to deceive the detective by. trying to convince him that getting rid. of her kids isn't something she'd really. do, despite that being exactly what. she's guilty of. I don't know what road it was. It was just we were just driving around. Um. well, the kids were going to the. bathroom. I had pulled over to this um a. little booth in Middletown.

Yeah. It's a little. stall or something. a bathroom. I pulled over. to the bathroom and let them all use the. bathroom. Well, it was raining and. stuff. I left the left the door unlocked. in the van. Mhm. And told them. we'll all go in here. Not all of us at. once, but each one of us go in here one. at a time. Use the bathroom. So, we went. in the bathroom.

Well, I couldn't go in there, but when I. went to go in the bathroom, I told him, "Go ahead and just get in the van.". Mhm. Well, James had slipped and fell. So, his shoes are wet, slippery, and he. had hit his head. The problem here is simple. If James had. simply hit his head, then why not just. get medical help then and there? Britney. is trying to take away as much blame as. she can from herself. The truth was, Britney had simply decided she wanted to. get rid of her kids for good. allegedly. at the request of her boyfriend. Both.

she and James drove her three children. to Rush Run Wildlife Area in southern. Preel County where they had a change of. heart and decided to only leave their. youngest, James. But as they tried to. drive away from the park without him, he. tried to grab onto the car and was. dragged under the wheels. Sadly, the. accident killed him and Britney and. James returned to find his body in the. road. The detective suspicions have been. right all along. After Britney and James. drove home, they placed the. six-year-old's body in a spare room of. their house before they dumped his body.

off a bridge that crosses the Ohio. River. Did it kill him? Is that what you're. telling me? Did it Did the fall hurt. him? Well, he was I asked him if he was okay. He. wouldn't answer me. So, I noticed he was. breathing kind of heavy. Mhm. And I thought maybe that's not normal. I've never seen a blurry lips before. Well, he was breathing. I don't know how long he was breathing. for, but he had fell and busted his head.

on the side of the van. Mhm. And trying to get in there. And. he was breathing heavy for a couple. minutes and then. he. I couldn't I tried a secure. So, he stopped breathing. And where's. his body at? He's doing good. Okay. Just. tell me where his body's at cuz I got to. go find him. I. for you. Okay. This is called Cloer now. Okay.

Where's Where's his body at? Where did. you take it back home with you? No, I left it. And you left it. So, who's all in the. car with you? All of us. James, you? Yes, we always as a family. So, all five of you? Yes. All right. And where what park was this? Or where was this at in Middletown? Because it would make sense to put to. me. Did you put him in a dumpster? Did. you put him Did you just let him lay. right there? Was he buried? I mean,

that's what I need to know. I didn't do nothing with him. I just let. him lay in the parking lot cuz it was a. plain parking lot. There was, I believe, like water over here or something. Mhm. And there was a one little stall. and. I left him just lay on the ground. Okay. Did James did James do anything. with him? Your uh boyfriend? I mean, it doesn't make sense just to.

lay him right there on the ground. So, well, I left him laying in there on the. ground cuz I was going to call the. ambulance, but I was. right. I was scared, shook up, didn't know what. to do. Okay. So, so now we need to figure out where this. is at. Well, he the b the little boy was laying. on the ground. I went to the bathroom, told him try you try real quick cuz I I. couldn't hold myself. I told him, "You. try real quick to give him CPR.". Mhm. And so I went to the bathroom, I came.

out, he was gone. Regardless of how true her story is, Britney has now told the detective that. James is dead. The priority is to find. him. After Britney details the moment. they dumped his body, police are able to. search the area. But despite their best. efforts, they would never find him. Britney would plead not guilty by reason. of insanity, claiming that she had a. learning disability and did not. understand what was happening. But an. evaluation by a psychologist showed that. she was competent to stand trial. Of. course, both were found guilty, and.

Britney would face the harshest. punishment. She would be sentenced to. murder and child endangerment totaling. 21 years in prison. James, on the other. hand, was found guilty of kidnapping, child endangerment, and gross abuse of a. corpse, and would be given the maximum. sentence of 19.