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Hush Little Babies: the true story of a mother who murdered her own children
A killing so brutal it shocked the police and left the nation grieving, Hush Little Babies is the appalling true story of Darlie Routier, the neighborhood's most wonderful mom, who one night, coldly, calculatingly and brutally stabbed her two sons and watched them die in a pool of their own blood...
Darlie claimed an intruder has come through the window, fatally stabbed her sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, slashed her throat with same knife, then fled, while her husband and infant son slept upstairs. At first Darlie's heartfelt testimony evoked fear and sympathy in her safe Dallas community. Then police became suspicious after these troubling questions were raised:
Why, according to a police report, didn't Darlie make any attempt to help her dying sons?
Why, when she called 911, did she tell the dispatcher that her own fingerprints would be on the murderer's knife because she had picked it up?
Why did the trail of blood left behind contradict Darlie's testimony?
From the dark forces that drove her to kill her own flesh and blood, to the evidence that snared her in her own twisted web, here is a chilling account of homemaker, loving wife, mother of three, and cold-blooded killer—Darlie Routier.
Darlie claimed an intruder has come through the window, fatally stabbed her sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, slashed her throat with same knife, then fled, while her husband and infant son slept upstairs. At first Darlie's heartfelt testimony evoked fear and sympathy in her safe Dallas community. Then police became suspicious after these troubling questions were raised:
Why, according to a police report, didn't Darlie make any attempt to help her dying sons?
Why, when she called 911, did she tell the dispatcher that her own fingerprints would be on the murderer's knife because she had picked it up?
Why did the trail of blood left behind contradict Darlie's testimony?
From the dark forces that drove her to kill her own flesh and blood, to the evidence that snared her in her own twisted web, here is a chilling account of homemaker, loving wife, mother of three, and cold-blooded killer—Darlie Routier.
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 17, 2011
Read this together with Barbara Davis book: Precious Angels and I did like that book better.
Someone said this author has no opinion but I did feel he thought Darlie was innocent, or unfairly treated. He even blamed the prosecution for being so good as one of the reasons for Darlie's punishment. And because the jury were conservatives. I googled for Darlie Routier and everywhere I looked I read the news (a few year ago) that Darlie was granted to do new DNA testing. It was on so many sites. Funny that it was very hard to find the results of that testing. Guess the family wasn't so pleased with the results cause I could not find it.
Someone said this author has no opinion but I did feel he thought Darlie was innocent, or unfairly treated. He even blamed the prosecution for being so good as one of the reasons for Darlie's punishment. And because the jury were conservatives. I googled for Darlie Routier and everywhere I looked I read the news (a few year ago) that Darlie was granted to do new DNA testing. It was on so many sites. Funny that it was very hard to find the results of that testing. Guess the family wasn't so pleased with the results cause I could not find it.
August 9, 2012
Maybe I'm in the minority but after reading this book, I'm not entirely convinced that this woman killed her children. There is a lot of evidence that state the contrary...I believe that there just might have been someone else in the home that night and the police didn't do enough investigation about it. There are too many unanswered questions here.
If she is innocent, she lost many years of her life for what? Unlike Diane Downs, I'm not convinced that Darlie did it. I recommend the book because it does give a very unbiased view of the case so that you can decide for yourself.
If she is innocent, she lost many years of her life for what? Unlike Diane Downs, I'm not convinced that Darlie did it. I recommend the book because it does give a very unbiased view of the case so that you can decide for yourself.
November 12, 2012
Books like this make me uneasy. Originally, I had been watching a crime drama about this case, in which they mentioned this book. I remembered that I had picked up the book at a resale shop a while back, so I decided to read it. I thought that perhaps after reading the story, I would be in agreement with the state's case against Darlie. However, the book did the opposite. It made me completely think the case against her was ludicrous, and that she definitely did not see a fair trial. I would never go as far to say that she is completely innocent, but I do not think that the state proved their claim in the least. This scares me that this woman is on death row for a crime she might not possibly have committed. I can't fathom being in that position, especially after losing two of the most important things in your life. I feel for this woman, and I pray and hope that she is delivered justice, or at least some piece of justice.
May 6, 2019
Just wow!
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves true crime stories, and loves to go over each detail of a case as it is played out from the very first strike, to the final nail in the coffin, or release from jail.
I gave this book five stars because the author was thorough, but concise in conveying the story. It was also an un-biased tale from the author. You were able to make up your own mind, as the reader about the defendant’s innocence, or guilt.
I was baffled at the way the prosecution handled the case, how the judge acted, and what he had said, and how he handled different issues, and completely shocked by the jury’s decision. I am still undecided if Darlie actually killed her two children, or not. I can see the facts lining up showing she did it, but I can also the facts lining up, showing she didn’t.
Overall, a great book on an interesting case.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves true crime stories, and loves to go over each detail of a case as it is played out from the very first strike, to the final nail in the coffin, or release from jail.
I gave this book five stars because the author was thorough, but concise in conveying the story. It was also an un-biased tale from the author. You were able to make up your own mind, as the reader about the defendant’s innocence, or guilt.
I was baffled at the way the prosecution handled the case, how the judge acted, and what he had said, and how he handled different issues, and completely shocked by the jury’s decision. I am still undecided if Darlie actually killed her two children, or not. I can see the facts lining up showing she did it, but I can also the facts lining up, showing she didn’t.
Overall, a great book on an interesting case.
October 30, 2013
No doubt in my mind she did it. The police officer at the scene explained it well: she gave over three different versions of the event and couldn't describe the attacker or the incident without changing her story.
February 17, 2018
I can't recommend this book enough.
I first read it about 12 years ago. I had never heard of the case, the book just sounded interesting. A mother killing her own babies... how does that happen?
This book lays out the facts - no bias opinions. Based on what I read for the synopsis, I started the book fully believing that I was going to read about a monster. By the time the book ended, I was convinced that Darlie Routier was wrongfully convicted.
I HIGHLY recommend giving it a read. Perhaps you'll reach your own conclusions as well.
I first read it about 12 years ago. I had never heard of the case, the book just sounded interesting. A mother killing her own babies... how does that happen?
This book lays out the facts - no bias opinions. Based on what I read for the synopsis, I started the book fully believing that I was going to read about a monster. By the time the book ended, I was convinced that Darlie Routier was wrongfully convicted.
I HIGHLY recommend giving it a read. Perhaps you'll reach your own conclusions as well.
April 23, 2008
A true story of Hush Little Babies by Don Davis is a awesome book. It all happened in Dallas, Texas when a mother, Darlie Routier of three killed her two sons, Damon and Devon Routier. She lovingly kissed her boys good night and then used a kitchen knife to say goodbye forever and ever. This is a horrifying book to read.
September 23, 2012
Unsure if she's guilty or innocent.. Silly string video has me doubting she's innocent.. If it was my kids I would have to be sedated as I couldn't cope how she did..
December 30, 2020
This is for everyone interested in the case wondering about what happened in that courtroom behind closed doors. I can‘t say she‘s guilty, as well as I can‘t say that she‘s innocent. What I can say though is, that there certainly is reasonable doubt in this and that this woman didn’t get a fair trial by any means. It‘s just upsetting and heartbreaking.
February 19, 2019
The title is deceptive, as is the whole cover. The author should have fought to change the title (and cover!) so it wouldn't seem as if Darlie Routier killed her sons Devon & Damon on 6/6/1996 in Rowlett, TX. There is no way Don Davis believed Darlie Routier killed her babies...and he even virtually says so in the "Author's Note" at the end of the book. Read this book after watching ABC's 2018 summer doco on Darlie named "The Last Defense" and you'll understand why it's almost impossible for anyone looking at the FACTS (in lieu of just using girly "emotions") of this case to believe for a New York micro-second that Darlie was the killer. We all have been duped into thinking Darlie is GUILTY...especially those of us who remember how she was portrayed in the disingenuous press. Bottom line, the "silly string" video sunk her...but when we look at the WHOLE picture of that 6/14/1996 grave site day (the birthday of one of the dead sons), we see something that was indeed awkward and weird but NOT as a carte blanche fast-track to conclude that she was a psychopathic killer. If you believed she was the killer when you saw that infamous video back in the day (as I did), shame on us ALL! 23 years later, Darlie is STILL wrongfully on death row. Disgrazia!
There is NOTHING that proves Darlie killed her kids. The whole defense, 'til this very day, still uses emotion ONLY to defend their point of view...you would think the state's attorneys were a bunch of hand-wringing women in lieu of seasoned male lawyers. It worked. It sure as hell worked in Kerrville, TX in 1997. It doesn't if you're a critical thinker and FACTS matter to you. Darlie was NOT a psychopath and she would have to be one to kill her kids the way the state claims she did (and there would be a heap of malignant past evidence to support such a claim). She was never seen as an abusive and neglectful mother and that counts too because good mums just don't up and kill their babies. There was more evidence to show a potential home intruder (there was one!) was the real killer than "evidence" that sunk Darlie. The window screen was cut with a knife found replaced in the Routier's home butcher block...and no one thought the fiend who planned this set up wouldn't have done that to throw the bad cops (and in this case, they WERE bad cops!) off the trail...however the cops DID know the whole killing scene was "staged"...well, of course...that would also happen to work nicely with the knife replaced in the butchers block but not if DARLIE was the killer. That would be just plain stupid. The inept Rowlett cops, who had a non-expert "expert" (James Cron) size the scene up real quick from the get-go, fingered her as the murderer early and that's all she wrote. The tenacious prosecutors rode the rail all the way to death row on the "Emotions Only" express. They couldn't be buggered with the crank calls Darlie had been receiving right before her family was decimated, the planted, bloody sock left in the alleyway or the mysterious black car that hung around Darlie's home that hot June in Texas. It had been seen by many people, including a very angry, bizarre and jealous Polish women who worked for Darlie and whose daughter was supposedly "friends" (more like "frenemy"!) with Darlie. That angry POS sunk Darlie's battleship real good...hope she is satisfied if still ensconced in her mortal coil.
LE also acted as if Darlie was cold and calculating and NOTHING has ever portrayed her as such...unless one counts that weird graveside birthday celebration...which was always shown out of context. The local cops had actually ALSO secretly taped the family's graveside gathering ILLEGALLY in toto, but no one showed the copious amounts of video left on the cutting-room floor of the whole family crying and breaking down and supporting each other...including Darlie. The inept cop that actually set up the stakeout (Jimmy Patterson) actually pled the 5th RE: his illegal actions at the trial. The cops involved in this crime had no interest other than in Darlie herself. That's not good investigative work and perhaps the real killer knew this about the bumbling cops.
This book is good. It's nicely written and the author does stay objective (for such a cover that erroneously portrays obvious guilt)...but there are hints here and there that aid you in knowing he thinks the whole case against Darlie is a farce. There isn't much "meat and potatoes" regarding this case because not much is really known. That is what happens when everyone concludes someone is guilty when the evidence and all else included just don't jibe with that conclusion.
Darlie is still on death row. Her husband Darin has been destroyed. We are all to blame, those of us who believed we were so bloody smart thinking Darlie was the cold-blooded killer just because of the silly string video and Susan Smith and her sins the October before. Facts matter more than emotions. What an awful case! Just six months later JonBenet Ramsey would also be targeted in her home in Boulder, CO and Darlie would be soon forgotten and done with.
There is NOTHING that proves Darlie killed her kids. The whole defense, 'til this very day, still uses emotion ONLY to defend their point of view...you would think the state's attorneys were a bunch of hand-wringing women in lieu of seasoned male lawyers. It worked. It sure as hell worked in Kerrville, TX in 1997. It doesn't if you're a critical thinker and FACTS matter to you. Darlie was NOT a psychopath and she would have to be one to kill her kids the way the state claims she did (and there would be a heap of malignant past evidence to support such a claim). She was never seen as an abusive and neglectful mother and that counts too because good mums just don't up and kill their babies. There was more evidence to show a potential home intruder (there was one!) was the real killer than "evidence" that sunk Darlie. The window screen was cut with a knife found replaced in the Routier's home butcher block...and no one thought the fiend who planned this set up wouldn't have done that to throw the bad cops (and in this case, they WERE bad cops!) off the trail...however the cops DID know the whole killing scene was "staged"...well, of course...that would also happen to work nicely with the knife replaced in the butchers block but not if DARLIE was the killer. That would be just plain stupid. The inept Rowlett cops, who had a non-expert "expert" (James Cron) size the scene up real quick from the get-go, fingered her as the murderer early and that's all she wrote. The tenacious prosecutors rode the rail all the way to death row on the "Emotions Only" express. They couldn't be buggered with the crank calls Darlie had been receiving right before her family was decimated, the planted, bloody sock left in the alleyway or the mysterious black car that hung around Darlie's home that hot June in Texas. It had been seen by many people, including a very angry, bizarre and jealous Polish women who worked for Darlie and whose daughter was supposedly "friends" (more like "frenemy"!) with Darlie. That angry POS sunk Darlie's battleship real good...hope she is satisfied if still ensconced in her mortal coil.
LE also acted as if Darlie was cold and calculating and NOTHING has ever portrayed her as such...unless one counts that weird graveside birthday celebration...which was always shown out of context. The local cops had actually ALSO secretly taped the family's graveside gathering ILLEGALLY in toto, but no one showed the copious amounts of video left on the cutting-room floor of the whole family crying and breaking down and supporting each other...including Darlie. The inept cop that actually set up the stakeout (Jimmy Patterson) actually pled the 5th RE: his illegal actions at the trial. The cops involved in this crime had no interest other than in Darlie herself. That's not good investigative work and perhaps the real killer knew this about the bumbling cops.
This book is good. It's nicely written and the author does stay objective (for such a cover that erroneously portrays obvious guilt)...but there are hints here and there that aid you in knowing he thinks the whole case against Darlie is a farce. There isn't much "meat and potatoes" regarding this case because not much is really known. That is what happens when everyone concludes someone is guilty when the evidence and all else included just don't jibe with that conclusion.
Darlie is still on death row. Her husband Darin has been destroyed. We are all to blame, those of us who believed we were so bloody smart thinking Darlie was the cold-blooded killer just because of the silly string video and Susan Smith and her sins the October before. Facts matter more than emotions. What an awful case! Just six months later JonBenet Ramsey would also be targeted in her home in Boulder, CO and Darlie would be soon forgotten and done with.
April 11, 2016
Undecided
While I believe that this woman killed her children, without a doubt, I also believe that if this book includes all the evidence that was taken from the scene, and the poor collection of witnesses statements (meaning no documentation) there is no way that if I had been on this jury I could not have had reasonable doubt, as defined by the law.
As a mother and having common sense, I can only believe that she murdered them, who else could it have been? I don't believe that it was for any financial gain, if it were, why not kill the husband? Perhaps they woke I up during the night and disturbed her and she flipped, only she can answer that.
Based on this book, during the trial,I feel like the prosecution left too many unanswered questions and in my mind, failed to prove "beyond a doubt" she was guilty. My common sense says that she is but there is a reasonable doubt. I would like to read something with a lot more information concerning what made the police zero in on her from the very start
While I believe that this woman killed her children, without a doubt, I also believe that if this book includes all the evidence that was taken from the scene, and the poor collection of witnesses statements (meaning no documentation) there is no way that if I had been on this jury I could not have had reasonable doubt, as defined by the law.
As a mother and having common sense, I can only believe that she murdered them, who else could it have been? I don't believe that it was for any financial gain, if it were, why not kill the husband? Perhaps they woke I up during the night and disturbed her and she flipped, only she can answer that.
Based on this book, during the trial,I feel like the prosecution left too many unanswered questions and in my mind, failed to prove "beyond a doubt" she was guilty. My common sense says that she is but there is a reasonable doubt. I would like to read something with a lot more information concerning what made the police zero in on her from the very start
June 13, 2015
Didn't seem to be researched as well as other books surrounding this topic. Contained conflicting facts--details. I will personally never stop wondering if this woman even received a fair trial--it does NOT appear she did. Pathetic that our "leading " country would allow such a thing and then order that person to be put to death! ! This could be ME. YOU. I'm sickened by how these darling children suffered during their last moments of life and wonder if they were indeed also realizing their very own Mommy was the one stealing ... butchering their life from them. Wow.
December 2, 2020
#
NC
Own in hardback.
FS: "It was only early summer, but already the sun beat down with a fury on the flat anvil that is Texas."
LS: "It is unfortunate that this trial was decided by emotion, not fact, and was lost when it moved from Dallas to Kerrville."
Pg, 69 error ...Darlie had not injuries on the bottom...
Between page 212 and 213 there seems to be a page missing. 213 just picks up in the middle of a sentence.
NC
Own in hardback.
FS: "It was only early summer, but already the sun beat down with a fury on the flat anvil that is Texas."
LS: "It is unfortunate that this trial was decided by emotion, not fact, and was lost when it moved from Dallas to Kerrville."
Pg, 69 error ...Darlie had not injuries on the bottom...
Between page 212 and 213 there seems to be a page missing. 213 just picks up in the middle of a sentence.
April 18, 2014
An insight into the murders of Damon and Devon Routier and coupled with what I have heard about Media Tried Justice Denied goes to prove that Texas was over zealous and tunnel-visioned to Darlie as the murderer and NOTHING was going to change their minds. Jim Cron NEVER should have been on the scene, PERIOD he was biased from the start.
February 11, 2016
I couldn't put this one down!! Yes, there are things that might point to Darlie as being the killer, but there is also so many unanswered questions and little bits of doubt that the author instills in you as you are reading the book. I've read this book 2 times and also other books about the same crime and i'm just not truely convinced that she is guilty.
Read
December 23, 2009This was an interesting read. I had read it a few years ago, but was reminded of it and re-read it. It's very thought provoking~~good at providing just the details and no opinion on the authors part. Makes me wonder, once again, if she really did it.
August 1, 2013
I am on the fence with this one...sometimes I thought she was the killer, but then again I don't know how a mother could kill her babies. Most of the evidence pointed at her, but there was some that didn't. I just cannot imagine what could bring a mother to that point...
September 25, 2015
when a mother is charged with stabbing her two young sons to death when she said an intruder was in her home and her slashed her and her throat...a trial that will make you wonder did she or didn't she
March 14, 2019
Amazing
Great details and research of a unbelievable murder. This story will break your heart and leave you on the edge of your seat. This story is hard to understand that a Mother can be so cruel and heartless. I highly recommend this book
Great details and research of a unbelievable murder. This story will break your heart and leave you on the edge of your seat. This story is hard to understand that a Mother can be so cruel and heartless. I highly recommend this book
June 12, 2008
research for medea...
June 16, 2008
One of my first True Crime reads. A co-worker gave me the book. True story about a mother who was accused of murdering her young children.
November 4, 2008
I cried throughout this book and I'm not a cryer. Heart breaking.
February 15, 2012
I read this book and was compelled to try and learn more about the case. I would love for others to read this so we could talk about it!
June 15, 2012
It was a fast read!! Hard to put it down!
September 14, 2013
While I can't say with 100% certainty that Darlie is innocent, I think there was more than enough reasonable doubt to acquit. This was a woman convicted largely by Silly String and a rap song.
December 21, 2014
I will never understand how a mother could do that to her children
January 17, 2018
Great book still cannot tell if she did it or not though.
January 19, 2018
Since Darlie is likely innocent, I didn't think much of this book.
September 28, 2021
I firmly believe that Darlie Routier did not kill her children.
Yet, Darlie has sat on death row for nearly 25 years.
So quick recap of what happened the night her boys, Devon and Damon were killed. Darlie and her two oldest boys were sleeping downstairs in the living room while her husband Darin to their fussy 8 month old, Drake, upstairs to sleep. Around 2:30 am, Darin is woken up by Darlie screaming that someone killed the boys. Darin runs downstairs, sees the boys laying in pools in of blood while Darlie is gushing blood from her neck. Paramedics and police are on the scene in less than 10 minutes. Within a half hour of assessing the scene, Jim Cron had already decided the intruder theory was bogus and that Darlie was the perpetrator.
I'm bothered by this case because they immediately honed in on Darlie. While she was recovering from her wounds in the hospital, detectives popped in to take a statement from her. Comparing the 911 call with her hospital statement, there are some differences. But let me ask you two things. 1) If you were just attacked in your home and are watching your boys die while trying to explain what happened, do you think you'd be 100% coherent? 2) If you just woke up, groggy from medication given to you during emergency surgery, would you be able to give a coherent statement?
That's one of the many issues I have with this case.
But I also want to know how they convicted a woman with no physical evidence. Darlie's trial was 100% based on circumstantial evidence. Not to mention the prosecution's theories are absurd. They truly believe Darlie stabbed her children to death, staged a crime scene, planted a bloody sock on the street nearly 3 houses away, and then stabbed herself 5 times with her non-dominant hand AND made them look like defensive wounds.
I just don't buy that. I don't believe she's responsible for this.
More true crime reviews can be found at A Reader's Diary!
Yet, Darlie has sat on death row for nearly 25 years.
So quick recap of what happened the night her boys, Devon and Damon were killed. Darlie and her two oldest boys were sleeping downstairs in the living room while her husband Darin to their fussy 8 month old, Drake, upstairs to sleep. Around 2:30 am, Darin is woken up by Darlie screaming that someone killed the boys. Darin runs downstairs, sees the boys laying in pools in of blood while Darlie is gushing blood from her neck. Paramedics and police are on the scene in less than 10 minutes. Within a half hour of assessing the scene, Jim Cron had already decided the intruder theory was bogus and that Darlie was the perpetrator.
I'm bothered by this case because they immediately honed in on Darlie. While she was recovering from her wounds in the hospital, detectives popped in to take a statement from her. Comparing the 911 call with her hospital statement, there are some differences. But let me ask you two things. 1) If you were just attacked in your home and are watching your boys die while trying to explain what happened, do you think you'd be 100% coherent? 2) If you just woke up, groggy from medication given to you during emergency surgery, would you be able to give a coherent statement?
That's one of the many issues I have with this case.
But I also want to know how they convicted a woman with no physical evidence. Darlie's trial was 100% based on circumstantial evidence. Not to mention the prosecution's theories are absurd. They truly believe Darlie stabbed her children to death, staged a crime scene, planted a bloody sock on the street nearly 3 houses away, and then stabbed herself 5 times with her non-dominant hand AND made them look like defensive wounds.
I just don't buy that. I don't believe she's responsible for this.
More true crime reviews can be found at A Reader's Diary!
June 15, 2021
Hush Little Babies is one of the best true crimes books I’ve read. Don Davis’ presentation of the facts is both well-written and totally impartial. His is an exception to what characterizes much of the field, wherein the writer "takes sides" early on (almost always the side which gives him the best access) leaving the reader unsure whether he’s reading facts or advocacy.
I had previously heard of the crime itself (the nighttime murder of two small children sleeping near to their mother), but knew nothing of the circumstances, and their elucidation by Davis was extremely interesting. It is a real credit to his writing that at the book’s end I still didn’t know his personal opinion about the woman’s guilt (he reveals it a postscript). True-crime aficionados will have to look hard to find a better book. Highly recommended.
I had previously heard of the crime itself (the nighttime murder of two small children sleeping near to their mother), but knew nothing of the circumstances, and their elucidation by Davis was extremely interesting. It is a real credit to his writing that at the book’s end I still didn’t know his personal opinion about the woman’s guilt (he reveals it a postscript). True-crime aficionados will have to look hard to find a better book. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews