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Diane Downs

Also known as: Elizabeth Diane Downs

Active

1983–1983

Region

Springfield, Oregon, USA

State

OR

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

On the night of May 19, 1983, Diane Downs drove her three children to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon, with gunshot wounds, saying a stranger had flagged down her car on Old Mohawk Road and shot them. Her daughter Cheryl, 7, died; her other two children survived with lasting injuries. Investigators found that Downs had shot them herself and wounded her own arm, and prosecutors argued she wanted to be free of her children for a man she was involved with. She was arrested in February 1984, convicted by a Lane County jury that June, and sentenced to life plus 50 years. She has been denied parole four times.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Cheryl Lynn Downs, 7 · May 19, 1983

Timeline of locations

1. April 1983
   Downs's home, Springfield (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   Downs moved with her children to Springfield in April 1983.

2. May 19, 1983
   Old Mohawk Road, near Springfield (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Downs shot her three children in the family car on a rural road outside Springfield and then shot herself in the forearm. She later claimed a stranger had flagged her down and tried to take the car.

3. May 19, 1983
   McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, Springfield (Other, approximate area)

   Downs drove the children to this hospital. Cheryl died; the other two children survived with permanent injuries.

4. May 1984
   Lane County Circuit Court, Eugene (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Downs was arrested on February 28, 1984, and tried before Judge Gregory Foote on one count of murder, two of attempted murder and two of first-degree assault. The jury convicted her on June 17, 1984; she was sentenced to life plus 50 years.

5. July 11, 1987
   Oregon Women's Correctional Center, Salem (Prison, approximate area)

   Downs climbed a razor-wire fence and escaped from the prison on July 11, 1987. She was caught about ten days later and moved to a more secure facility.

6. 2013
   Central California Women's Facility, Chowchilla (Prison)

   Downs serves her Oregon sentence in California and is held at the Central California Women's Facility. The Oregon parole board denied her release again in December 2025.

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Sources

• Diane Downs (Wikipedia)
• Oregon Daily Emerald, May 15, 1984 (Historic Oregon Newspapers, University of Oregon)
• Elizabeth Diane Downs, convicted last week by a Lane County jury (UPI, 1984)
• Oregon's parole board isn't likely to release Diane Downs anytime soon (Willamette Week, 2023)
• Diane Downs, convicted of killing 7-year-old daughter in Springfield in 1983, denied parole (KPTV, 2025)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.