We the jury find the defendant not guilty. Okay. Today is the sentencing of the defendant for the purposeful and intentional murders of Dave. Why women kill? When we think of violent crime, we rarely imagine women at the center of it. Today’s stories reveal a darker truth.
Deep motives lurk behind murders committed by women. From a beauty queen accused of the death of a small child to a planned fatal traffic crash, here are five of the most shocking real life cases involving female criminals in the United States. Case one. It is therefore ordered that you shall be put to death by God have mercy. Can I please my mom before I go? Please hold.
This is Christa Pike. She’s inside a Tennessee courtroom facing the charges that would make her one of the most infamous women in American true crime history. In January 1995, 18-year-old Pike, her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Ship, and their acquaintance Shadola Peterson lured 19-year-old Colleen Smer to an abandoned area near the Job Core Center.
According to investigators, Pike and Ship were involved in a cult related interests, something prosecutors later argued influenced the mindset behind the attack. Court records say Pike believed Colleen was trying to steal ship from her, and prosecutors framed the torture killing as a jealous attack on a perceived romantic rival, not a random act of violence.
What happened next was described in court as prolonged and brutal. The case gained national attention when investigators discovered that Pike had kept an item belonging to the victim, something prosecutors called a disturbing keepsake. These pieces of evidence, combined with statements from the other participants, became central at trial.
Police quickly located all three suspects. Pike confessed. Ship received a life sentence and Peterson, who cooperated, received a significantly lighter term. Christa Pike was sentenced to death, making her the youngest woman in the US to receive such a sentence at the time.
In prison, Pike became involved in several incidents, including an attack on another inmate and an alleged escape plan. As of now, she remains on Tennesseee’s death row. Her execution has been scheduled for September 30th, 2026, though such dates can change due to ongoing appeals. This case remains one of the most disturbing examples of violent crime committed by a woman in modern US history.
Case two, the verdict reads as follows as to each count. On count one, it says, “We the jury find the defendant not guilty.” On counts two, three, four, five, and six, the verdict reads, “We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of felony murder, two counts, aggravated battery, two counts, and cruelty to child in the first degree.
” This is Trinity Pogue appearing in a Sumpter County courtroom. In January 2024, Pogue was a student at Georgia Southwestern State University. On the day of the incident, she was in a dorm room with her ex-boyfriend’s 18-month-old son, Romeo Jackson Drew Angelus. Responders found the child unresponsive. Doctors reported life-threatening injuries that were inconsistent with an accident, triggering a criminal investigation.
Prosecutors presented text messages in which Pogue expressed frustration and jealousy regarding the child. They also showed online searches she made about head trauma while the boy was hospitalized. Searches the prosecution emphasized during trial. According to prosecutors, Pogue resented that Romeo was from Julian Williams previous relationship and wanted to have a child of her own with him, turning the toddler into a target of jealousy rather than someone she could accept as part of their future.
Before her arrest, Pogue had participated in local beauty pageantss and held minor titles which were later revoked. Pogue insisted it was an accident, but the jury rejected her version of events. In December 2025, she was convicted of felony murder, aggravated battery, cruelty to children. She was acquitted of malice murder.
The judge sentenced Trinity Pogue to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. During sentencing, Pogue cried while both her family and the family of Romeo watched from the courtroom. Case three. The jury in the above entitled cause find the defendant Diana Gene Lanchoy guilty of the crime of conspiracy to commit murder in violation of penal code section 1828.
In the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of San Diego, the people of the state of California, plaintiff versus Welen K. McDavid, defendant, case number SCN 363925, DA number OCD980. Verdict. We the jury in the above entitled cause find the defendant Welen K.
McDavid guilty of the crime of conspiracy to commit murder. All right, we’re going to need to take a break. This is Diana Lovejoy standing trial in San Diego County. In 2016, Lovejoy and her firearms instructor, Weldon McDavid, were charged with conspiring to kill her ex-husband, Greg Mulvahill, during a bitter custody dispute.
According to prosecutors, the two set up a nighttime meeting in a remote area after Mulvahill received an anonymous call claiming there was evidence related to the custody case. When Mulvahill arrived, he was shot with a rifle. Remarkably, he survived and was able to escape. Investigators concluded that McDavid had fired the shot while Lovejoy helped plan the attack.
Phone records, calls, and messages between them became key evidence. McDavid insisted he only meant to scare Mulvahill, not kill him. Lovejoy denied ordering any harm. Testimony later showed that after a court awarded Mulvahill 50% custody of their son and ordered Lovejoy to pay him about $120,000, she didn’t want to share custody and didn’t want to pay.
Turning resentment and jealousy over her ex-husband’s new legal position into the emotional fuel behind the ambush. The jury found Diana Lovejoy guilty of conspiracy and attempted murder. McDavid was found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy as well. During the sentencing hearing, Lovejoy collapsed in court, a moment widely circulated online.
She received 26 years in prison while McDavid was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. I was sexually abused and I did I witnessed my son be molested once and I did take all the steps I possibly could to ameliorate that situation. I would never be able to do that. And it’s so painful that people some people in this world seem to think that I would have it in me to do this.
Case four. As you review that exhibit, you know that you are watching the oncoming deaths of two people and there is nothing that will stop it. I considered all the evidence presented and at this point I would like to comment specifically on exhibit 802, the crash video. The video clearly shows the purpose and intent of the defendant.
She chose a course of death and destruction that day. This is McKenzie Sharella appearing in a Kyahoga County courtroom in Ohio. In July 2022, investigators say the 17-year-old intentionally crashed her car, killing two passengers, her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend DaVon Flanigan, 19.
The three were returning from a gathering in Strongsville when Sharilla drove her Toyota Camry onto an industrial road called Progress Drive. According to data recovered from the vehicle’s systems, she accelerated to nearly 100 mph and never attempted to break. The car hit a sign and slammed into a brick building. Russo and Flanigan died at the scene.
Sharilla survived but suffered serious injuries. In the days after the crash, Sherilla wasn’t viewed as a suspect at all. She was seen as a survivor. Severely injured and hospitalized, she appeared in early reports as a tragic victim of a devastating accident, and social media filled with prayers and messages of support for the poor girl who somehow lived through it.
Only later, as investigators analyzed the car’s data, did the narrative shift. After she recovered, Sherilla was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, drug possession, possession of criminal tools. Her defense argued it was an accident, that she simply lost control.
But the judge, who decided the case without a jury, ruled that the collision was intentional. Mackenzie, step out for me. I’m Detective Jesu. I’m the one who’s been investigating the crash. You’re under arrest for aggravated murder times, too. Okay. Yeah. Mackenzie. Okay, Mackenzie, I’m going to take your handcuffs off.
I need like all the jewelry and everything to come off. Okay. I can’t wear any of it. No, I need you to take it off while you’re in jail right now. Friends and family described Sherilla’s relationship with Dominic as turbulent and controlling. Weeks before the crash, a witness heard her yell, “I’m going to wreck this car right now.
” during an argument, a threat prosecutors later pointed to as proof that she was willing to use the car itself as a weapon in conflicts with her boyfriend. In August 2023, McKenzie Sharilla was found guilty of multiple counts of murder. The judge described her actions as extremely reckless and noted a lack of remorse.
Sharilla received two life sentences with the possibility of parole after 15 years. She is currently serving her sentence in an Ohio women’s facility. guilty of felonious assault to win Dominic Russo in violation of Laar Revised Code section 2903.11 of the revised code is charged in count five of the indictment soon to waver finds defendant McKenzie Sharilla guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide.
Case five, he came here and found my cousin. Is that really my cousin? Really? I have a minute. I I didn’t have access. I’ve been Okay. So, how do you know her? That’s my That’s That’s like my girlfriend. We met We’ve been messing around for like over a year now. Okay. We spoke on Instagram, I think, yesterday.
That’s I see my cousin. Oh, this Hey, listen. Do you know her mom? Yes. My aunt is coming. My aunt is a flight attendant. That’s my mom. Your mom? What? Wait, what? Your mom’s here? My mom is here. My mom is here. Is that her mom? No, that’s her aunt. Okay. This is Sakina Thompson appearing in Broward County, Florida.
In July 2022, Thompson was charged with killing 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson in Tamarak. Investigators said Thompson, who lived in New York, was jealous after her former partner began dating Hodgson. Shortly before the incident, Hodgson had blocked Thompson on social media, something prosecutors said intensified tensions.
Prosecutors later emphasized how deliberate Thompson’s actions were. She didn’t just fly to Florida. She tried to erase her trail. She checked into a hotel under a different name, used a fake Uber account to travel to Hodgson’s apartment, and disguised herself with a mask and head covering before approaching the residence.
Around 5:00 a.m., wearing a mask and head covering, Thompson allegedly entered Hodgson’s apartment. Hodgson was later found with fatal stab wounds. At trial, the defense claimed the confrontation turned into a struggle and that Hodgson had struck Thompson and cut her stomach with a shard from a broken hookah.
A version meant to support Thompson’s self-defense argument. Prosecutors rejected that account, describing the attack as a jealous, premeditated killing. Detectives connected Thompson to ride share trips, flight data, and movement between her hotel and the crime scene. She was later arrested in New York and extradited back to Florida.
Thompson testified that she acted in self-defense, claiming Hodgson attacked her first and that she was protecting herself and her unborn child. Prosecutors argued the attack was deliberate and motivated by jealousy. An unusual detail noted during the trial. Thompson was approximately 2 months pregnant at the time of the killing.
Yet after her arrest, reporting on the pregnancy abruptly disappears. Neither the verdict coverage nor sentencing reports mention the pregnancy or a child, leaving that threat of the story unresolved. In October 2025, a jury found Sakina Thompson guilty of firstdegree murder. Deliberations lasted about an hour.
She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During sentencing, Hodgson’s family delivered emotional statements describing their loss. Heard from every single member of the family wanted to speak to me with regard to Miss Thompson. With that, uh, Miss Thompson, you have 30 days to appeal the sentence of court.
Being honorable, I will represent you and I will make the present investigation letters and the information was presented to me a part of the court proceedings. Thank you very much. And our business is concluded for the day. These cases challenge the expectations many people hold about crime and gender.
Each story raises difficult questions not only about guilt but about the motives, emotions, and circumstances that led to such tragic outcomes. Which case shocked you the most? And why do you think these situations happen? Tell us in the comments and make sure you subscribe. Part two will explore even more cases involving women whose actions stunned experienced investigators and courtroom audiences alike.
More true crime stories are on the way.
