Alianna DeFreeze

**Alianna DeFreeze** (June 12, 2002 - January 26, 2017), a fourteen-year-old girl from Cleveland, Ohio, was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered by Christopher Whitaker. Whitaker, who had a criminal history involving grand theft, burglary, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, and sexual assault, took DeFreeze to an abandoned house, where he raped her. The weapons he used to murder her were scattered all over her body and stabbed and beat her to death using a hammer, a screwdriver, a nut driver, a box cutter, and a drill. DeFreeze, who attended school at E Prep & Village Prep Woodland Hills, was reported missing, causing a city-wide search. Her body was discovered three days later.

Her mother became concerned at 4:00 pm when DeFreeze had still not returned home from school. She called E Prep and was informed that DeFreeze never arrived at school. DeFreeze was reported missing, prompting a city-wide search. On January 29, DeFreeze's body was found at the house where Whitaker had murdered her by three Cleveland police officers. The officers entered the house after noticing that the back door was open and found a trail of blood leading from the dining room into a room behind a closed door. After kicking open the door, they found DeFreeze's deceased body crumpled in a corner in a pool of blood. She was naked except for her socks and had wounds to her head.

The boxcutter was used to slash DeFreeze's neck, while the drill had been used to put four puncture wounds into her cheek and a wound on her forehead that dislodged her right eyeball from the socket. Because many of the wounds showed signs that they had started healing, they were inflicted on her several hours before she died. DeFreeze appeared as if she had been dragged and thrown into the room. DeFreeze’s clothing, including a tie soaked with blood and a sweater torn open down the front, were found strewn about the house. Along with DeFreeze's clothing, police also found her backpack and tools, including a drill, box cutter, a screwdriver, and a hammer, all of which had blood on them. The tools were laid out on a built-in bench in the dining room, which prosecutors described as a makeshift workstation.

DeFreeze’s body was identified using dental records by the medical examiner's office. An autopsy performed by Cuyahoga County Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. David Dolinak revealed that she suffered wounds caused by tools found in the house, including a drill, a screwdriver, and a box cutter. She had so many injuries and her injuries were so severe that Dolinak could not identify which one caused her death. Forensics analysts also found Whitaker's DNA on DeFreeze's body. Whitaker was identified using the DNA and was arrested at 7:00 pm on February 2 at the Villa Serena Apartments in Mayfield Heights with the assistance of U.S. Marshalls.

Whitaker was interrogated by Cleveland Police, and changed his story several times, initially denying any involvement in the murder and then going on to admit his involvement, but still denying responsibility by blaming his actions on crack-cocaine use. Whitaker said that he had blacked out after punching DeFreeze and that he would not have committed the crime if he were sober. "People are going to look at me like a monster. I'm not a monster,” he told investigators, adding that he was “just an addict who made a mistake that shouldn't have happened." Whitaker also told investigators that he did not want his face in the news. Whitaker’s murder trial occurred in February 2018. Defense attorneys argued that Whitaker's drug use impaired his ability to control impulses and obey the law while prosecutors disagreed, saying that he knew what he was doing. The jury convicted Whitaker on February 13, 2018. Later, the jury recommended that Whitaker receive the death penalty and the judge upheld it. Whitaker is currently on death row.

RTA surveillance footage recorded on the morning of January 26, 2017, shows DeFreeze exiting a bus, while surveillance video from a business shows her crossing East 93rd Street. She was then stopped outside the True Gospel Missionary Baptist Church by Whitaker, who, according to video recorded from the church, had been pacing around the area for several hours. DeFreeze took a step back from Whitaker, who followed her. According to a witness, Whitaker grabbed her as she walked along East 93rd Avenue. The witness did not contact the police because he was unsure of the relationship between DeFreeze and Whitaker. Surveillance video then shows Whitaker leading DeFreeze through a field to Fuller Avenue.

Whitaker took DeFreeze to an abandoned house. There, he raped her. Whitaker then used a Black and Decker drill, a Phillips-head screwdriver, a nut driver, a box cutter, and a hammer to stab and beat her to death. DeFreeze died as a result of the stab wounds and blunt force injuries which were numerous and severe. Whitaker claimed he was high on cocaine and blacked out during the crime. After murdering DeFreeze, in the late morning hours, Whitaker assisted a pastor at the Golgatha Missionary Baptist Church to unload food pantry items from a truck. The pastor described Whitaker's demeanor as calm. In 2019 DeFreeze’s parents filed a lawsuit against several people and entities arguing that the school's failure to notify them about DeFreeze’s absence and the failure to monitor abandoned properties led to her death. In 2022, DeFreeze’s family received a $1 million settlement. In 2019 Governor John Kasich signed a law named after DeFreeze which requires schools to notify parents of unexcused absences within two hours. Fly high, Alianna