Wayne County Sheriff\'s Office Timothy Dean and Charlene Childers
Charlene Childers was the wife of Timothy Dean and the ex-girlfriend of Joshua Niles. She is in prison for conspiring with her husband to kill her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, Amber Washburn, in upstate New York.
Childers and Tim Dean met in Texas, where they were both working for a police department. They met at Dumas Police Department, where she was a dog catcher and he was a police officer. At the time, they were married to other people. Dean was later promoted to police chief of Sunray Police Department, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Shortly before the double murder, Washburn and Niles had been granted temporary custody of a boy and girl, the children of Childers and Niles. Washburn and Niles were raising the children, then ages 9 and 7, in their upstate, New York home along with their own son, who has autism.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Charlene Childers, Who Was Charged With Conspiracy in the Double Murder, Was Josh’s Ex-Girlfriend & Mother of His Older Children
Charlene Childers
Charlene Childers, Josh Niles’ ex-girlfriend, is in prison today for conspiring with her husband, Timothy Dean, to have Niles murdered. Washburn was also killed when she appeared on the scene.
New York Department of CorrectionsCharlene Childers records
Childers, now 26, was convicted of possession of a weapon and manslaughter, according to the New York Department of Corrections. She was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Charlene Childers’ records
She was convicted and faces a lengthy sentence. Her projected release date is not until October 25, 2042, according to prison records. She is incarcerated in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, where she has been since July 3, 2019.
Charlene Childers’ custody records
Childers and Niles had a son and a daughter together: Gabby and Bently. They are now 10 and 8, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. Niles’ sister, Nicole Gunkel, is raising the children in Newark, New York.
Niles and Washburn had temporary custody of the boy and girl. Childers told Dateline Washburn served as a good second mom who loved Childers’ children.
2. Charlene Childers Said Washburn Cared for her Children As Though They Were Her Own
GoFundMeJosh Niles Kids
Charlene Childers, the mother of Josh Niles’ two older children, said on Dateline she had no problems with Amber Washburn raising her children.
“I was fine with Amber being around my kids because she took them in as though they were her own,” she said.
Childers is facing 28 years in prison after she was convicted of possession of a weapon and manslaughter, according to the New York Department of Corrections. She was convicted of conspiring with her husband, Timothy Dean, to kill Niles and Washburn.
The children, Gabby and Bently, who are 10 and 8, are now being raised by Niles’ sister, Nicole Bently. She is already raising four children of her own, and started a GoFundMe to raise funds for their care.
“Well many of you know my brother josh niles and his girlfriend amber were taken from us on October 22 2018,” she wrote on GoFundMe. “I was granted guardianship of his 2 older children I also have 4 children of my own and was not prepared for 6 kids I have no regrets on taking the responsibilities for my niece and nephew they are loved and cared for but I don’t have a vehicle Big enough to be able to take family trips and help the kids get back to some kind of normal, and a lot of their stuff was left in Texas were they lived before my brother took custody of them so I’m trying to replace a lot of things for them, this is a difficult time for all of us and every little bit helps and if you cannot donate please pray for my niece and nephew to be able to get through this tough time thank you all so much!”
3. Childers Admitted She Planned to Murder Niles After They Were Granted Custody of Her Children
GoFundMeJosh Niles Kids
Childers admitted that she planned to murder 28-year-old Josh Niles after he and Amber Washburn, 24, won custody of her children, according to Syracuse.com. Niles was Childers’ ex-boyfriend. Childers and Niles had two children together, Gabby and Bently. The children were 9 and 7 at the time of the murder last year.
“What I did was wrong and I regret it every single day,” Childers said in Wayne County Court during her sentencing, the news outlet reported. “I would like to apologize for my wrongs… I realize that saying sorry doesn’t bring them back. Because of my selfishness, I ruined my children’s lives.”
Her children are now being raised by Josh Niles’ sister, Nicole Gunkel, according to a GoFundMe she started to raise funds to help pay for their care. She has four children of her own.
“Well many of you know my brother josh niles and his girlfriend amber were taken from us on October 22 2018,” Gunkel wrote on the page. “I was granted guardianship of his 2 older children I also have 4 children of my own and was not prepared for 6 kids I have no regrets on taking the responsibilities for my niece and nephew they are loved and cared for but I don’t have a vehicle Big enough to be able to take family trips and help the kids get back to some kind of normal, and a lot of their stuff was left in Texas were they lived before my brother took custody of them so I’m trying to replace a lot of things for them, this is a difficult time for all of us and every little bit helps and if you cannot donate please pray for my niece and nephew to be able to get through this tough time thank you all so much!”
4. Before His Death, Josh Niles Told a Friend to Look At Childers if Anything Happened to Him
GunMemorial.orgJoshua Niles and Amber Washburn
Before Josh Niles and his girlfriend, Amber Washburn, were murdered outside their home in upstate New York, Josh Niles told his family members that if something happened to him, Childers should be considered as a suspect.
“Josh said to a friend, ‘If something happens to me, look at her (Childers),’ because she had threatened him because he had custody the kids, and she was mad,” his sister, Nicole Gunkel, told WHAM.
Childers lost custody of her children because Timothy Dean, her husband, was charged with felony child abuse, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
5. Childers & Her Husband Met When They Both Worked for the Same Police Deparment
https://twitter.com/WillCleveland13/status/1066183986106589185/photo/1
Charlene Childers and her future husband and murder co-conspirator, Timothy Dean, met when they were both working for the same police department in Texas. Dean was a police officer and Childers was a dog catcher when they met at Dumas Police Department in 2016. At the time, they were both in relationships with other people, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Dean later became police chief of Sunray Police Department, which is also in Texas, the newspaper reported.
Childers made a statement in trial saying she told Dean to murder Niles, according to WHAM.
During the trial, Childers said, “I told him the murder needed to happen and I couldn’t take it anymore being away from my kids.”
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