In the early 1980s, families across northern Florida trusted a teenager named Christine Falling to care for their children. When some of those children became seriously ill or died, there always seemed to be an explanation.
For more than two years, no one realised that the explanation was Christine herself.
As she would later say:
“No one could hear them scream.”
⚠️ Content warning: This article contains descriptions of violent or distressing events. Reader discretion is advised.
A Broken Childhood
Christine Laverne Slaughter was born on 12th March 1963. She was the second of four children, including her older sister Carole and two younger brothers, Michael and Earl. Her mother, Ann, was just 16 years old when she gave birth to Christine, while her father, Thomas, was considerably older at 65.
The Slaughter family lived in Perry, a remote, tight-knit town in the Florida Panhandle, approximately fifty miles southeast of Tallahassee. Like many rural communities, Perry faced persistent economic challenges, with its economy heavily reliant on the lumber industry. Christine’s father worked as a woodsman, but his low income left the family in serious financial hardship. Their living conditions were cramped, and the children had limited access to healthcare, adequate nutrition, and consistent support.
Thomas was often inattentive and prone to violence. Ann, struggling with poverty, teenage motherhood, and her husband’s volatility, frequently left the home for months at a time. During these absences, Carole and Christine were often sent to relatives, while Michael and Earl, considered useful for their labour, remained with Thomas to assist with gruelling manual work.
Thomas was also suspicious of Ann’s long absences and questioned Michael’s paternity, reportedly acknowledging only Earl as his son. Christine’s earliest years were therefore marked by poverty, instability, violence, and repeated separations within the family.
Eventually, Ann left Carole and 4-year-old Christine altogether, reportedly abandoning them on a bench at a shopping centre in Perry. The girls were subsequently adopted by Jesse and Dolly Falling and took their surname. Dolly was unable to have children and wanted to become a mother, while Jesse, her husband, was a relative of the Slaughter family. Together, they brought the sisters into their home.
Jesse and Dolly were devout churchgoers, but Christine and Carole later described life inside their home as deeply troubled. They alleged that Jesse was physically abusive, beating them, locking them in confined spaces, and lashing out in anger. They also described him as a volatile alcoholic.
Both sisters also alleged that Jesse sexually assaulted them. During a later psychiatric evaluation, Christine recalled witnessing the sexual assault of her sister:
“One time when he physically raped my sister, I had to stand and watch, and I tried to tell my mother what had happened, and my father got to me before I could really explain to my mother what had happened.”
Dolly dismissed the allegations and accused Christine of fabricating stories to cause division within the family. In an interview, she said:
“Christine told me that they had had sex, you know what I mean? She told me only she put the blame on her sister Carole, and Jesse denied it. He denied it. He said that it wasn’t true. So I don’t know whether there was anything like that that went on or not. I haven’t gotten no proof of it. I think they was trying to break up a home. If you want to know the truth, it was Christine doing it, trying to break the peace between me and my husband.”
Jesse also denied the allegations.
Alongside the allegations of abuse, Christine experienced significant health and developmental difficulties. She had suffered from epilepsy since childhood, experiencing regular seizures and requiring medication to manage the condition, something her birth parents had struggled to provide consistently. She also faced serious learning and developmental challenges. Later psychiatric evaluations placed her IQ within the borderline range, while academically she never progressed beyond approximately a sixth-grade level. Christine also struggled with her weight and was reportedly bullied, adding to the social and academic difficulties she already faced.
Her behaviour also became increasingly troubling. She was prone to violent outbursts and committed acts of cruelty towards cats, including strangling them and dropping them from heights to “test their nine lives.” Christine reportedly described this behaviour as a way of showing affection.
It was an unusual association between affection and harm that formed part of a much wider pattern in Christine’s childhood. Her earliest relationships had been marked by instability and, according to Christine and Carole, violence and abuse. These experiences cannot provide a simple explanation for her later crimes, but they provide important context for the difficulties she developed around relationships, attention, and violence.
Christine remained in constant conflict with her adoptive parents, while the behavioural and emotional problems she was displaying appear to have received little effective support. Eventually, conditions in the Falling household deteriorated to the point that the family’s church pastor intervened, and the girls were sent away.
Christine was 9 years old when she was placed in a group foster home called Great Oaks Village in Orlando. Her time there offered some distance from the instability of the Falling household. Some accounts suggest she responded well to the structure and attention, while others describe her as socially isolated and frequently bullied. Caregivers described Christine as a liar, a compulsive thief, and a child who regularly broke the rules. Her behaviour during this period would later form part of the much broader picture considered by those attempting to understand her emotional and psychological development.
At 12, Christine left the children’s home and, after another period of instability, sought out her birth mother in Blountstown. However, her life remained unsettled and, by September 1977, at just 14 years old, Christine had married Bobby Adkins, a local man in his twenties.
The marriage was tumultuous and lasted just six weeks, with reports of frequent violent arguments between the couple. Christine accused Adkins of abusing her, but also acknowledged her own violent behaviour, including an occasion when she threw a 25-pound stereo at him during an argument. She later claimed that she became pregnant during the marriage and lost the child before the relationship ended, although this remains unverified.
After the separation, Christine was admitted to hospital on dozens of occasions. Some were connected to her epilepsy, but more than fifty others involved vague or unexplained complaints, including fainting spells, abnormal menstrual bleeding, hallucinations of “red dots” dancing before her eyes, and reported snake bites.
Doctors reportedly suspected Munchausen syndrome, now known as factitious disorder, in which someone falsely presents, exaggerates, or induces symptoms of illness. However, no formal diagnosis was ever made. Whatever lay behind Christine’s repeated hospital visits, illness, and the attention she received as a patient had become a recurring feature of her life.
Christine also began coming into more frequent contact with the authorities. In 1978, after facing public accusations that she was faking her seizures, she stole money from a local church, reportedly in retaliation against those who doubted her condition. Following her arrest, she attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. Just three months later, in January 1979, she was arrested again for stealing someone’s wallet.
By 16, Christine had returned to Perry, Florida, drifting between homes and struggling to find work. Her birth mother urged her to contribute financially, but with little formal education, persistent health complaints, and few viable employment options, Christine relied on handouts and occasional petty crime to get by.
There was, however, one kind of work that always seemed available: babysitting.
Despite her history of instability and behavioural problems, neighbours and relatives continued to entrust Christine with their children. Her quiet, childlike demeanour gave them little reason to believe that she posed a danger.
That trust would have devastating consequences.
The Killer Babysitter
Over the next two years, Christine Falling babysat for families across northern Florida. Some described her as gentle, sweet, and good with children. During that period, a succession of children became seriously ill or died while in her care. The explanations varied: encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis, viral infections, and sudden infant death syndrome. The cases occurred across different counties, involving different doctors and authorities, and the wider pattern was missed. Each death or illness appeared to have its own medical explanation, and what was happening around Christine was repeatedly put down to illness, coincidence, or chance.
But Christine Falling wasn’t just unlucky. She was lethal.
Cassidy Johnson — 25th February 1980, Blountstown
The first child known to have died while in Christine’s care was 2-year-old Cassidy Johnson, affectionately known as Muffin. On 22nd February 1980, 17-year-old Christine was hired by Cassidy’s parents to look after their daughter while they were working, digging worms to sell as fishing bait.
Four hours later, Cassidy became limp and unresponsive. Christine took her to a doctor, where encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, was initially suspected. Cassidy was transferred to Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, but died three days later, on 25th February.
Dr Jerry Harris, the associate medical examiner, noted bruising to Cassidy’s scalp and concluded that she had suffered a blow to the head before her death. There was also a red mark across her neck, which her parents had not initially noticed but was later pointed out by the doctor.
Christine claimed that she had briefly left Cassidy alone in her room and returned to find her unconscious on the floor, suggesting that she had fallen from her crib. An elderly witness, Tom Griffin, later testified that Christine had been alone with Cassidy in the bedroom for between ten and fifteen minutes before emerging and saying, “Granddaddy, I don’t believe Muffin’s breathing.”
One of the physicians treating Cassidy did not believe Christine’s account, arguing that the pattern of blunt-force trauma identified during the autopsy was inconsistent with a simple fall from the crib. The physician wrote a note recommending that police investigate Christine, but the note was misplaced, and the recommendation was not acted upon. Cassidy’s mother, Linda Johnson, later testified that the doctor had also contacted child-abuse authorities because he suspected foul play.
Without definitive physical evidence establishing what had happened to Cassidy, the case was closed and no charges were brought.
Cassidy was the first child known to have died while Christine was looking after her, but other children in her care became suddenly and seriously ill and survived. At the time, these incidents were treated as medical emergencies rather than evidence of deliberate harm. Only later would investigators return to them as they examined the growing number of cases connected to Christine.
The first occurred just days after Cassidy’s death, when 3-year-old Kyle Summerlin was hospitalised with suspected meningitis. Kyle survived, and there was initially no reason to connect his illness to Cassidy’s death.
When investigators later revisited the case, however, questions were raised about the sudden onset of Kyle’s symptoms and whether they were consistent with meningitis. His rapid recovery also contributed to doubts about the original diagnosis, although no evidence established exactly what had caused his illness.
At the time, the incident went no further. Christine soon moved from Blountstown to Lakeland, Florida, where she continued babysitting.
Jeffrey Davis — 23rd February 1981, Lakeland
Almost a year to the day after Cassidy’s death, on 23rd February 1981, Christine was caring for her 4-year-old nephew, Jeffrey Davis. According to Christine, Jeffrey fell asleep on the couch beside her and never woke up.
The family did not have a telephone, so Christine went to a neighbour’s house for help, and Jeffrey was rushed to hospital.
An autopsy determined his cause of death to be myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. Because myocarditis is often caused by a viral infection, doctors considered the possibility that Jeffrey had died from a contagious illness. No foul play was suspected.
Christine appeared distraught, and her family sympathised with her, believing she had just experienced the trauma of a child dying while in her care. At that point, they had no reason to believe that she had caused his death.
Joseph Spring — 26th February 1981, Lakeland
Three days later, Jeffrey’s family gathered for his funeral. Among the mourners were the parents of his 2-year-old cousin, Joseph “Joe Boy” Spring. With Jeffrey’s death believed to have resulted from illness, Joseph’s parents asked Christine to babysit their son while they attended the funeral.
But it was a decision with tragic consequences. While they were away mourning Jeffrey, Joseph was laid down for a nap and never woke up.
Doctors initially attributed his death to a viral infection, possibly the same illness suspected in Jeffrey’s case. The explanation appeared plausible: the boys were related, close in age, and had recently played together. If an infection had killed both children, however, there was concern that others might also be at risk.
Two days later, two more children who had been in Christine’s care became seriously ill. Fourteen-month-old Jeffrey Heil, a friend of Joseph’s, was taken to Lakeland General Hospital after becoming unresponsive. While his parents remained at the hospital with him, Christine looked after his older brother, 3-year-old Charles Heil. Charles then collapsed and suffered a seizure, and was transferred to the Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg.
Both brothers survived, but the cluster of illnesses and deaths led doctors to consider whether Christine might unknowingly be carrying and transmitting an unidentified infection.
Tissue samples from Joseph’s autopsy were sent to the Epidemiology Research Center in Tampa. Christine’s blood and faecal samples were tested, family members were screened, other illnesses among local children were examined, and even Lakeland’s water supply was analysed. No common source was found.
The uncertainty had consequences beyond the investigation. Carole Davis, Jeffrey’s mother, was prevented from returning to her job at a petrol station because her employer feared she might transmit whatever had killed her son. With fear spreading faster than the facts, and doctors still unable to explain what was happening, families in the community did not know whether they were dealing with an infectious disease or something else entirely.
Christine later described her attitude towards the doctors investigating the illnesses:
“If they dumb enough, they can’t figure it out for theirself, then why should I tell them? I mean, they’re doctors, you know? It was like a game with me. I was getting away with it.”
Jennifer Daniels — 14th July 1981, Perry
Five months after the deaths of Jeffrey Davis and Joseph Spring, Christine remained involved with her extended family and continued to be trusted with their children. Her stepsister, Geneva Daniels, had an 8-month-old daughter named Jennifer.
On 6th July 1981, Christine was looking after Jennifer while Geneva attended a funeral. They were at the Blountstown trailer home of a friend, Theresea Odom, when Christine took the baby into the bathroom to bathe her.
According to Odom’s deposition, Christine remained inside with Jennifer for approximately twenty minutes before emerging with the baby wrapped in a towel. Jennifer was unconscious. Christine told her, “She’s out. She’s not coming to.”
Jennifer was rushed to Madison County Memorial Hospital, where Christine told medical staff that the baby had suffered a seizure. Nurses, however, noted red marks around Jennifer’s throat and burst blood vessels across her face, which they said were inconsistent with a seizure. Jennifer was nevertheless discharged and referred to a doctor in Perry for further evaluation. No formal investigation was opened.
Eight days later, on 14th July, Christine accompanied Geneva and Jennifer to the Taylor County Health Department, where the baby received routine vaccinations for polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus. Afterwards, they stopped at a Winn-Dixie supermarket. Geneva went inside to shop, leaving Christine alone with Jennifer in the car.
When Geneva returned, Christine was holding her daughter, who was no longer breathing. Geneva screamed, “She’s dead! She’s dead!” while Christine repeatedly told her, “No, she died in my arms,” and cried, “Oh, not again.”
Jennifer’s death was initially considered natural, with a possible reaction to the vaccinations she had received that day or sudden infant death syndrome among the explanations considered. Neither explanation gave investigators reason at the time to treat her death as a homicide.
Within sixteen months, however, four children had died while Christine was caring for them, while several others had become seriously ill and survived.
Wilburn Swindle — 4th January 1982, Perry
With some families now reluctant to leave their children in her care, Christine briefly turned to work outside babysitting. In January 1982, she took a housekeeping job in her hometown of Perry, working for 77-year-old Wilburn Swindle.
Wilburn lived alone and had both cancer and a history of heart problems, leaving him in need of help around the house. Christine was a family friend, and he agreed to employ her.
He died on her first day.
According to Christine, she left Wilburn alone for several hours while he was sitting in a chair. When she returned, she found him on the floor and believed he had suffered a heart attack.
Christine, already aware of the rumours surrounding the children who had died in her care, asked Wilburn’s family not to publicise the fact that she had been working for him. As a result, police were unaware of her connection to Wilburn and did not initially consider his death alongside the others.
No autopsy was performed at the time. Given his age, cancer diagnosis, and history of heart problems, his death was attributed to natural causes.
It would only be after Christine’s arrest that investigators returned to Wilburn’s death and began to question whether that conclusion had been correct.
With her reputation in Florida beginning to follow her, Christine travelled north to Proctorville, Ohio. There, Linda and Ricky Harris took her into their home, offering her room and board in exchange for looking after their 6-month-old daughter, Pokey.
On 23rd January, Christine emerged from a back bedroom in a panic and told Linda that something was wrong with the baby. Linda found Pokey lying on her back, not breathing, with blue skin and lips. She shook her daughter until the colour began to return to her face.
Pokey was taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed a viral infection. No further action was taken.
The following day, Christine showed Linda a tabloid clipping about the babies who had died while in her care. Alarmed by what she read, Linda told Christine to leave.
Two days later, Christine returned to the house uninvited and refused to go. Police were called to remove her, and she was sent to the City Mission in Huntington, across the river in West Virginia.
While staying there, Christine showed other residents a photograph of Pokey and claimed that the baby was her own. She also told people that Pokey was dead, although the child was alive. Whatever Christine hoped to gain from the story, it continued a pattern in which illness, death, and her relationships with children repeatedly became sources of attention.
Christine spent the next few months in West Virginia, where she was arrested three times and faced charges including public drunkenness, fighting, and grand larceny.
She returned to Florida in May 1982 and, despite the growing suspicion surrounding her, would once again be entrusted with a baby.
Travis Coleman — 3rd July 1982, Blountstown
By July 1982, 19-year-old Christine was back in Blountstown and living in a trailer with her boyfriend, Robert Johnson. Robert was the uncle of Cassidy Johnson, the first child known to have died in Christine’s care.
That summer, Christine accompanied 17-year-old Lisa Coleman and her 10-week-old son, Travis, on a shopping trip. Later that night, Travis became seriously ill and was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center with pneumonia and heavy bleeding from his nose. He remained there for five days before being discharged with liquid antibiotics.
Relieved that her son was recovering, Lisa decided to go out and asked Christine to babysit him. On the evening of 2nd July, she left Travis in Christine’s care while she went out with her sister and their boyfriends.
Lisa knew about the rumours surrounding Christine but later explained simply:
“I just didn’t believe it.”
By the following morning, Travis was dead.
In the early hours of 3rd July 1982, Christine’s boyfriend awoke to find the 10-week-old baby lying dead on a mattress beside their bed. Dried blood had pooled beneath Travis’s nose and soaked into his blanket. Christine claimed that he had been fine during the night and had simply stopped breathing in his sleep.
Travis was initially taken to Calhoun General Hospital and then transferred to the office of medical examiner Dr Joe Sapala near Panama City. The preliminary autopsy lasted two and a half hours. No definitive cause of death was identified, although Travis had swelling of the brain and lungs and burst blood vessels in his eyes.
The findings could be consistent with suffocation or SIDS but were not conclusive. Tissue and fluid samples, including liver, bile, stomach contents, stool, blood, and urine, were therefore sent to a specialist laboratory in Fort Lauderdale for toxicology testing. The results were not made public, although retrospective accounts suggest that no poison was detected.
There was still no clear physical evidence establishing that Travis had been smothered, and his death was left without a firm medical explanation. This time, however, the circumstances surrounding his death would not be considered in isolation.
Travis was buried later that day in a small cemetery south of Blountstown. His casket was reportedly made from pieces of wood taken from an old house, while friends of the family dug his grave.
Investigation and Arrest
Despite the growing number of suspicious deaths and illnesses connected to Christine over the previous two and a half years, she had not been arrested. The cases had occurred in different places and had largely been investigated in isolation, even as suspicions around her began to mount.
That finally began to change on 9th July 1982, when a multi-county task force was formed to examine possible links between the cases, bringing law enforcement and medical examiners together in the first coordinated investigation into Christine.
Until then, several factors had made those connections difficult to establish. Forensic technology was limited, as was communication between agencies. Christine had moved between Calhoun and Taylor Counties, while the rural setting left authorities with limited resources. There were also no centralised background checks for childminders or domestic workers, meaning that families employing Christine were unlikely to know what had happened elsewhere.
Even as investigators began bringing the cases together, however, they still had to consider the possibility that there was a medical explanation. Christine underwent testing for an undiagnosed illness that might explain why so many children had become sick or died around her. Christine knew, of course, what had really happened to the children, but publicly she continued to play along with the search for a medical cause. Outside the Calhoun County Health Center, where she provided blood and stool samples for analysis at a state laboratory in Tampa, she told reporters:
“I’m just interested in finding out what it is. If I have something, I want to find out.”
The possibility that Christine was a modern-day Typhoid Mary unknowingly transmitting an illness to the children in her care, was only one theory. Contaminated formula, undiagnosed infections, malnutrition, and even witchcraft were also suggested as people searched for an explanation.
But there was only ever one explanation.
Christine wasn’t infecting people or casting spells. She had been choking and smothering children with her own hands. Christine Falling was a serial child killer.
Four days after the task force was established, on 13th July, Christine voluntarily entered Goodwood Manor, the psychiatric unit at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, after reporting that she was suicidal. It was during her time there that investigators would finally begin to learn what had happened to the children.
During a private visit, Christine told her sister, Carole Phillips, that she had killed five children. Carole later told investigators that Christine initially appeared upset but became noticeably calmer after admitting the killings.
Christine also began talking about how she had killed the children. She described using pillows or blankets to smother their faces while they slept, a method she called “smotheration.” She said it was something she had seen on television and described it as “simple and easy,” adding that “no one could hear them scream.”
At the same time, Christine claimed that she had been hearing voices telling her to “kill the baby.” The claim would later become relevant as her mental state was examined during the legal proceedings that followed.
Then, on 20th July, Christine gave a taped confession to Calhoun County Sheriff W.G. “Buddy” Smith and Deputy Ronnie Stone.
When asked about Cassidy Johnson, she said:
“She got kinda rowdy or something. Anyway, I choked her until she quit breathing, and she had turned purple.”
Asked about Jeffrey Davis, Christine said they had returned from playing and that he had made her angry:
“I was already kinda mad that morning, and I just took it out on him. I started choking him until he was dead.”
She gave a similar account of Joseph Spring:
“He had laid down for a nap, and he was asleep. And I don’t know, I just got the urge I wanted to kill him, so I went down and choked him.”
When investigators asked about Jennifer Daniels, Christine again described becoming angry:
“Well, her mama had went in the grocery store to buy groceries and was continually cryin’ and cryin’ and cryin, and it made me mad, so I just put my hands around her neck and choked her until she shut up.”
Finally, when asked about Travis Coleman, Christine said:
“I just choked him — no apparent reason, I guess. I just picked him up off of his pallet and choked him to death and laid him back down.”
When asked whether there was anything else she wanted to say about the children, Christine replied:
“Not other than I killed ‘em. That’s about all I got to say…I don’t know why I did none of this.”
Her explanations varied from anger and irritation to what she described simply as an urge to kill. But even after admitting to five killings, Christine offered no clear explanation for why she had repeatedly harmed children who had been entrusted to her care.
Two days after giving her confession, on 22nd July, Christine was released from Goodwood Manor and arrested. She was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Travis Coleman and Cassidy Johnson and held without bond in Calhoun County Jail.
The initial charges reflected the jurisdiction in which the deaths had occurred. Travis and Cassidy had died in Blountstown, placing their cases within Calhoun County, while Jeffrey Davis, Joseph Spring, and Jennifer Daniels had died elsewhere. Pursuing those cases would require further coordination between the relevant authorities.
Following Christine’s arrest, her defence challenged the legality of her confession, arguing that her psychiatric condition and the circumstances surrounding the interviews at Goodwood Manor had compromised her rights. The court ultimately ruled that the confession was admissible.
That challenge also brought greater attention to Christine’s mental state. Court-appointed specialists examined her history, including her repeated hospitalisations, borderline intellectual functioning, and claims that she had heard voices instructing her to kill. There was also consideration of whether her behaviour displayed features associated with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which illness is fabricated or induced in another person under someone’s care.
However, no such clinical diagnosis was established. Christine was ultimately found legally sane and competent to face the charges against her, and her reported experiences did not provide the basis for a successful insanity defence.
As preparations for the cases continued, investigators also returned to a death that had previously attracted little attention: that of 77-year-old Wilburn Swindle.
During a pre-trial deposition hearing in the Jennifer Daniels case in November 1982, Deputy Hugh Poppell testified that a woman had contacted the state attorney’s office earlier that summer with concerns about bluish marks she had seen on Wilburn’s neck. His body was subsequently exhumed, and photographs showing the marks were admitted into evidence. Investigators noted similarities between them and the injuries observed on Jennifer Daniels.
There were other reasons for authorities to reconsider Wilburn’s death. He had been found face-down in his living room with his pockets turned inside out. Poppell testified:
“Mr. Swindle was known to have large amounts of money, and he was known to bury his money. There were places under his house and around his house that were dug up.”
Christine’s history of theft, her presence in Wilburn’s home on the day he died, the marks reportedly found on his neck, and the apparent disturbance around his money all contributed to suspicions that his death might not have been natural.
If Wilburn was another of Christine’s victims, it would suggest that her violence was not confined to children, but could extend to other situations in which she was given access to someone vulnerable and placed in a position of trust. Unlike the five children whose killings she confessed to, however, Christine never admitted to killing Wilburn and was never charged with his death.
Conviction, Prison, and Parole
In September 1982, 19-year-old Christine Falling appeared in court for pre-trial hearings relating to the murders of Cassidy Johnson, Travis Coleman, and Jennifer Daniels. With investigations into the other deaths still continuing and the possibility of facing multiple death penalty charges, Christine accepted a plea agreement rather than go to trial.
Her guilty pleas were entered in two separate hearings later that year. In Calhoun County Circuit Court, she admitted to murdering Cassidy and Travis, before appearing in Taylor County Circuit Court, where she pleaded guilty to the murder of Jennifer Daniels.
Although Christine had also confessed to killing Jeffrey Davis and Joseph Spring, neither death was prosecuted. Both had originally been attributed to medical causes, and the forensic evidence available by the time Christine confessed was limited. As a result, Cassidy, Travis, and Jennifer were the only three children whose murders resulted in convictions.
Throughout the court proceedings, Christine gave little explanation for why she had killed the children, continuing to claim that she had heard voices telling her to kill.
In December 1982, she was sentenced to three concurrent life terms, with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years. The plea agreement spared Christine a possible death sentence, but also meant that the case ended without a trial in which the evidence surrounding the deaths could have been examined publicly.
Christine was transferred to Broward Correctional Institution, where her behaviour soon brought further disciplinary action. Within months, she set fire to her mattress. No one was injured, but Christine was placed in solitary confinement for 30 days.
After serving 25 years, Christine became eligible for parole in 2007. Records surrounding any consideration of her release that year are unclear, but by 2017 she was again before the parole authorities.
This time, there was considerable opposition to her release. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office and relatives of her victims submitted statements urging the commission to keep her in prison, while a prosecutor described her as the “babysitter from hell.” No one appeared at the hearing in support of Christine. The Florida Commission on Offender Review rejected parole, and another hearing was scheduled for 2024.
Christine has remained incarcerated since her conviction. Although the outcome of the scheduled 2024 parole review is unclear from the publicly available records I have been able to verify, her presumptive parole release date has been reported as 2254.
More than four decades after she pleaded guilty, Christine has offered no known public explanation that fully accounts for why she killed the children entrusted to her care. Her convictions remain for the murders of Cassidy Johnson, Travis Coleman, and Jennifer Daniels, while the deaths of Jeffrey Davis and Joseph Spring, both of whom she confessed to killing, never resulted in additional charges.
Sources and Further Reading
Florida Memory | State Library and Archives of Florida
Murderpedia | Christine Falling
New York Daily News | The Casual Horror Behind Christine Falling, The Florida Babysitter from Hell
New York Times | Florida Babysitter Pleads Guilty to Murdering Three in Her Care
UPI | A 19-Year-Old Babysitter Pleaded Guilty Friday To Strangling…
UPI | Babysitter Christine Falling Told Her Sister During A July…
UPI | Babysitter Now Linked to Death of Elderly Man
UPI | Five Babies Die In Care Of Babysitter In Two Years
Washington Post | Babysitter Accused of Killing 2 in Her Care
Newspaper Articles:
Beaver County Times | Baby Sitter May Be Isolated | 11 Jul 1982 | Page 7
Bryan Times | Babysitter Linked To Death Of Elderly Man | 3 Nov 1982 | Page 5
Courier | Accused Babysitter Linked to Man’s Death | 3 Nov 1982
Daytona Beach Morning Journal | Dead Tot’s Mom Told Differing Stories | 13 Nov 1982 | Page 7
Eugene Register-Guard | Baby Sitter, 19, Given Life For Killing Three Children | 3 Dec 1982 | Page 3
Evening Independent | Parents Say Child Had Mark On Her Neck Before She Died | 25 Sept 1982 | Page 2
Evening Independent | Sitter Linked With Close Call In Ohio | 28 Jul 1982 | Page 1
Gadsden Times | Children’s Deaths Remain Mystery; So Is Baby Sitter | 15 Jul 1982 | Page 7
Gainesville Sun | Baby Sitter Is Content In Jail Cell | 2 Aug 1982 | Page 1
Gainesville Sun | Sister Says Baby Sitter Is Innocent | 13 Aug 1982 | Page 8
Lakeland Ledger | Sister Reveals Her Infant Died After Being Cared For By Falling | 13 Aug 1982
Lakeland Ledger | Christine Falling In Confinement For Setting Mattress On Fire | 20 Apr 1983 | Page 42
Lawrence Journal-World | Trail Of Death Haunts Sitter, Florida Towns | 15 Jul 1982 | Page 2
Ocala Star-Banner | No Connection Between Sitter, 4 Deaths: Doctors | 27 Jul 1981 | Page 22
Ocala Star-Banner | Boyfriend Testifies In Sitter Hearings | 9 Sept 1982 | Page 22
St. Joseph News-Press | Christine Falling Is Shown In Her Home. Babysitter Charged… | 22 Jul 1982 | Page 6
St. Petersburg Times / Tampa Bay Times | ‘I Just Got The Urge Wanted To Kill Him’ | 4 Dec 1982 | Page 5
Times-News | The Mysterious Deaths Of Five Florida Infants | 16 Jul 1982 | Page 8
