science and innovation | January 18, 2026

Why Didnt Diane Downs Husband Have Kids? – Celebrity

In 1984, Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her three children, 3-year-old Danny, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 8-year-old Christie. Danny and Christie survived the attack while middle child, Cheryl, died from her injuries at the time. The two older kids were Diane’s with ex-husband Steve, however, Danny wasn’t Steve’s.

On November 13, 1973, Diane married Steve Downs after running away from home. Their first child, Christie Ann, was born in 1974. Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair by Diane.

Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, were shot in the May 19, 1983 attack. Cheryl died; the other two children survived, but they suffered terrible wounds – according to Glamour, the bullets paralyzed Danny and gave Christie a stroke. The first two children were Diane’s kids with her ex husband Steve Downs.

During the time they were together Diane gave birth to three children, Stephen “Danny” Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976) and Christie Ann (born 1974). In 1983 Downs shot all three children, killing Cheryl and paralysing Danny.

How many children did Diane Downs have?

Diane Downs gave birth to four children. Her first three children with husband Steve are Stephen “Danny” Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976) and Christie Ann (born 1974). Conflicting reports say Downs also acted as a surrogate during her fourth pregnancy, giving birth to a daughter after her trial in 1984.

Downs said: “I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much.

Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984.

DIANE Downs is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own children.

Downs’ launched a violent attack on three of her children, Danny, Cheryl Lynn and Christie Anne in 1983. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence.

But surgeon Steve Wilhite managed to revive Christie, after her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and she suffered a stroke.

“They have both graduated from college. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005.

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Who are Diane Downs’ children?

Twitter Learn about Diane Downs’ children now: Christie, Stephen (Danny), and Becky. Diane Downs was one of the most infamous murderers of the 1980s; the emotionally flat blonde was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, …

The first two children were Diane’s kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. Danny was the product of an affair. Prosecutors think that Diane had sparked up a relationship with a married man who didn’t want kids and that this became the motive for murder. Diane Downs also gave birth to a fourth child with yet another man; she became pregnant with that daughter, now known as Becky Babcock during the investigation.

According to Oprah.com, “Christie and Danny…have chosen to live private lives.”. In 1989, the Associated Press reported that then 14-year-old Christie Ann “was left with speech impairment, and 9-year-old Danny is paralyzed from the waist down.

Famed true-crime author Ann Rule wrote about the case. She provides an update on Christie and Danny today, writing on her website: “Adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984, Christie and Danny–who somehow survived their gunshot wounds–have no contact with Diane. They have both graduated from college. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. They have grown up in a very happy home with the Hugis.”

Her mother was on trial for shooting her siblings, and some believed that Diane Downs got pregnant to gain sympathy.

Who is Diane Downs’ ex lover?

Diane’s ex-lover, Robert Knickerbocker, also said the same. Since he was in possession of a similar gun, he was a suspect as well, but, when the ballistics did not match, Diane Downs quickly became the prime suspect. Within a few weeks, a judge had placed the surviving kids, Christie and Danny, in protective custody.

Back in Phoenix, Arizona, in Moon Valley High School, Steve Downs met Elizabeth Diane for the first time. He was one of the few people who saw Diane, not as the outsider, but as a beautiful woman who was anxious to assert her independence. And so, very quickly, they formed a relationship.

Steve was the one who left Diane because he believed that Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair that Diane had.

When Diane had failed to mention it herself, he even informed them that she had bought a .22 caliber shotgun in Arizona, just before she had left for Oregon.

Because she was failing quite miserably at remaining pure and chaste, she was expelled after only a year, and thus, she returned to her parents’ home in Arizona. Diane’s parents had high hopes for her future, a future that didn’t involve Steve, so they disapproved of their relationship.

After graduating high school, Steve went on to join the Navy, and Diane, having a strict religious background, was sent to the Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College.

It is said that they didn’t go to Steve because he wasn’t a fit father or well equipped to take care of children who had gone through such a traumatic experience.

What happened to Diane Downs?

In 1983, horror stuck in Oregon as a mother took it upon herself to end the life of her own children. Diane Downs became one of the most infamous murderers in the city after she was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. And, considering how the emotionally flat blonde responded to …

Steve Downs, their father, actually left Diane in 1980 because he thought that Danny was the result of an extramarital affair that she had. From Arizona to Oregon, the family had moved just shortly before the incident for Diane’s job in the U.S. postal service.

A year later, when Diane was arrested and put on trial, Christie, at just 9 years old, having just recovered her ability to speak, testified against her in court.

Therefore, they grew up privately and continue to live their adult lives privately. Christie, now in her mid-40s, still lives in Oregon, in Springfield, and has a big, loving family. Not just a son, but a couple of other children as well, including a daughter, who she named after her dead sister, Cheryl. Of course, being married, she has also …

Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. They have grown up in a very happy home with the Hugis.”.

Christie Ann, born in 1974, is the eldest of the Downs children, and Stephen Daniel , known as Danny, born in 1979, is the youngest. They had another sibling, born in the middle, in 1976, Cheryl Lynn, but she didn’t survive the shooting.

Famed true-crime author, Ann Rule, provided an update on them by writing on her now defunct website: “Christie and Danny–who somehow survived their gunshot wounds–have no contact with Diane. They have both graduated from college. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005.

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