Woman killed, child raped in New York mall carjacking
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A man previously charged with having child pornography cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle before carjacking a woman, fatally stabbing her and raping her 10-year-old daughter, authorities said.
David J. Renz abducted the school librarian and her daughter as they left a gymnastics class at a mall in the Syracuse suburb of Clay, about 150 miles west of Albany, on Thursday night, state police said Friday.
Renz bound both victims, raped the girl and drove a short distance to a spot where the girl escaped and was found by a passing motorist, troopers said.
The motorist told 911 dispatchers he saw a man running away from the scene, allowing police to quickly send in officers on the ground and a sheriff's helicopter in the air. Renz was caught a short time later near a wooded area.
It was unclear how the girl escaped or when her mother was killed, authorities said.
"We're still trying to piece the timeline together," Trooper Jack Keller said.
The girl was being treated at a hospital Friday. Her mother died from multiple stab wounds.
Renz, 29, had been charged in January with possession of child pornography and allowed to remain free under terms that included staying off the Internet and away from places including schools, parks and arcades. He lost his job at a supermarket, moved in with his mother and hadn't been able to find other work after his arrest, according to court documents. Federal authorities said he cut his electronic monitoring device off his ankle shortly before Thursday's attacks.
Renz was arraigned Friday on murder, rape and kidnapping charges and was held without bail. The lawyer assigned to his case, Ken Moynihan, didn't return a call seeking comment.
The Associated Press generally doesn't publish information that could identify potential sex crime victims and isn't naming the woman to protect the girl's identity.
According to an FBI criminal complaint, agents who went to the North Syracuse apartment where Renz was living in June found in his bedroom four computers that he told them he used to view adult pornography.
Agent Alix Skelton said Renz eventually admitted using the Internet for the past six years to download child porn to a drive on one of the machines, which he turned over to the agents. Technicians determined in November that it had an encrypted hard drive, and Skelton said Renz provided the encryption key. Agents reviewing the drive in December found about 100 gigabytes of child porn comprising more than 500 videos and more than 3,000 images, according to the complaint.
Among the images were two showing sex acts involving prepubescent girls, said Skelton, a member of a unit that targets people involved in online exploitation of children.
Renz was charged on Jan. 9 in federal court with possession of child pornography. On Jan. 29, a judge granted a prosecutor's request for an extension of the time required for grand jury action so investigators could continue going over "numerous items of electric media" for additional evidence.
Renz, who authorities said had no prior police record, was released after agreeing to stay at home at night with an electronic monitor and away from any place he might encounter children.
But Renz removed the monitor, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan said. Federal probation officials were investigating what happened, including whether Renz was able to get around an alert that is supposed to go off if the ankle bracelet is removed, he said.
Late Friday afternoon, state police turned Renz over to federal authorities, who will hold him for violating the terms of his release, court documents said.
Duncan said the cases against him will continue in federal and state courts.
The federal public defenders lawyer assigned to Renz in the child porn case, James Greenwald, did not return a call seeking comment Friday.
David J. Renz abducted the school librarian and her daughter as they left a gymnastics class at a mall in the Syracuse suburb of Clay, about 150 miles west of Albany, on Thursday night, state police said Friday.
Renz bound both victims, raped the girl and drove a short distance to a spot where the girl escaped and was found by a passing motorist, troopers said.
The motorist told 911 dispatchers he saw a man running away from the scene, allowing police to quickly send in officers on the ground and a sheriff's helicopter in the air. Renz was caught a short time later near a wooded area.
It was unclear how the girl escaped or when her mother was killed, authorities said.
"We're still trying to piece the timeline together," Trooper Jack Keller said.
The girl was being treated at a hospital Friday. Her mother died from multiple stab wounds.
Renz, 29, had been charged in January with possession of child pornography and allowed to remain free under terms that included staying off the Internet and away from places including schools, parks and arcades. He lost his job at a supermarket, moved in with his mother and hadn't been able to find other work after his arrest, according to court documents. Federal authorities said he cut his electronic monitoring device off his ankle shortly before Thursday's attacks.
Renz was arraigned Friday on murder, rape and kidnapping charges and was held without bail. The lawyer assigned to his case, Ken Moynihan, didn't return a call seeking comment.
The Associated Press generally doesn't publish information that could identify potential sex crime victims and isn't naming the woman to protect the girl's identity.
According to an FBI criminal complaint, agents who went to the North Syracuse apartment where Renz was living in June found in his bedroom four computers that he told them he used to view adult pornography.
Agent Alix Skelton said Renz eventually admitted using the Internet for the past six years to download child porn to a drive on one of the machines, which he turned over to the agents. Technicians determined in November that it had an encrypted hard drive, and Skelton said Renz provided the encryption key. Agents reviewing the drive in December found about 100 gigabytes of child porn comprising more than 500 videos and more than 3,000 images, according to the complaint.
Among the images were two showing sex acts involving prepubescent girls, said Skelton, a member of a unit that targets people involved in online exploitation of children.
Renz was charged on Jan. 9 in federal court with possession of child pornography. On Jan. 29, a judge granted a prosecutor's request for an extension of the time required for grand jury action so investigators could continue going over "numerous items of electric media" for additional evidence.
Renz, who authorities said had no prior police record, was released after agreeing to stay at home at night with an electronic monitor and away from any place he might encounter children.
But Renz removed the monitor, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan said. Federal probation officials were investigating what happened, including whether Renz was able to get around an alert that is supposed to go off if the ankle bracelet is removed, he said.
Late Friday afternoon, state police turned Renz over to federal authorities, who will hold him for violating the terms of his release, court documents said.
Duncan said the cases against him will continue in federal and state courts.
The federal public defenders lawyer assigned to Renz in the child porn case, James Greenwald, did not return a call seeking comment Friday.
If only guns were illegal this tragedy- oh wait...
I bring news of great joy. According to YAHOO NEWS said scumbag received a beating while in jail. He has a broken nose and other injuries.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=David%20J.%20Renz&tbs=sbi%3AAMhZZitW_1GY2_1v-WW-RjHlMHx3IXRJBEBSIgDSpGVHLcZ32sIvbKo1c1uNPm0ZY5pPpFeC-EJulQksFO-uljTc3a3S-7d9X1FLYohd3B4EoXah7I79Tec8NSG8KpyFTBpPtkURe80aIc0zPy-knG5IloMNZpWfWCcGPLF7rWvGGmm-uT234g0FuGhAn8zMnkz9a8L2MwKY2a2eGDb0gorYGp90Njn1vCtQ&ei=_tlEUcG-K9OpqwG--4G4Bg&ved=0CAcQiBw&biw=1067&bih=501Â Â Get a load of this GOOFY GOOFY LOOKINÂ MOTHER F.....
NY NEVER releases the homeless veterans arrested for sleeping outside...the homeless veterans ROT IN JAIL!
@August100Â What do homeless veterans have to do with this story? this pos needs to have his balls and dick cut off, left to bleed to death and then rot in hell.Â
This is NORMAL in the USA....
when are the courts and the do-gooders going to wake up to the ( set it in cement ) fact that this type person/people are not honest ,upright, reliable, GOOD people.they lie, cheat and hurt others willingly and knowing fully what they are doing is not acceptable behavior in society..
This is what happens when you are soft on crime.
Who decided he wasn't a threat to society? Who decided he didn't need to be in jail while awaiting trial? He should have never ever have been allowed out. We need to change everything about how we treat pedophiles. Judges need to have mandatory education on how to deal with these severely sick and untrustworthy criminals. No matter what happens to him this little girl can never be given her Mother back nor her sense of security in the world. My heart breaks for her and her family.....And not only that but this guy was running around outside custody with an anklet, until he took it off, yet thousands of men are in prison and not with their wives, not raising their children, because of a marijuana charge? .....Twisted justice.
Oh, well. At least AR-15 magazines are illegal in New York. It's a lot safer now. It's a good thing peaceful people can go to prison for that while pedophiles get to run around free.Â
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed . . ."
Death - no mercy. Done.Â
How could anyone say the death penalty is wrong when it comes to this POS.
Hang him from the nearest streetlight. And leave his body to decompose as a warning.
Maybe they are letting this animal know that if he can find a way to Oregon, he will not get the death penalty.  He can admit to any unsolved crime committed in Oregon and do-gooder Kitz will extradite him  so he can keep him off death row.
@Shadow DON'T call him an animal. Animals don't do things like this - only humans.
Why is this of importance to Oregonians? It happened in NY for crying out loud! Isn't there anything of real importance here in the NW? Or anywhere else in the world? Come on KATU, are you forgetting where your audience base lives? It certainly is not in New York! This is NOT a reality show, and we don't get to vote on it!
@jpk I guess because it us under national news, that we are reading about it.Â
@jpk this is what will happen in Oregon if criminals are continually given slaps on the wrist.
Boy, these electronic monitors really keep the public safe, don't they? Scrap this useless technology and go back to simple common sense. Hey Governor K would you be willing to kak this POS?
I'm no fan of bravado, but this jerk needs a slow painful death.
OK this POS deserves no special consideration and 0 claims to civil rights throw him into a cell full of angry gang members wearing a KKK hood and let justice be served.
@Jeremy Men wearing KKK hoods never serve justice.
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@TheUglyTruth i'll buy the rope for his necklace
I'm no proponent of the death penalty, but my first reaction is to have the 10 year flip the switch on him in the electric chair. It's my first reaction. Ultimately, I think he should have to live with his sins for the rest of his life, may it be many years of solitude in prison.
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@TheUglyTruth @pdxd And we pay for him to sit there, fn joke. They should cut his D%#$ off, duct tape his mouth shut with it in there, blindfold him and throw him in an alligator pond, I would order it on PPV.
I hope there is a special place in Hell for him after he's convicted. Happily it isn't in Oregon where Kitzhaber would put him up in the Governor's Mansion, feed him caviar, and sleep under a goose down comforter.
"Renz, 29, had been charged in January with possession of child pornography and allowed to remain free under terms that included staying off the Internet and away from places including schools, parks and arcades..."
That worked out well.
Too bad the ankle bracelets don't have a wire that, if cut, sets off a small explosive to remove the leg and let him bleed to death.
I can not even imagine the horror that poor little girl experienced. David J. Renz needs, and society deserves, a swift trial immediately followed by execution.
Poor little girl. My thoughts are with you, hoping you can eventually recover from this horrific event. And condolensces to the family and friends of mom.
Why is he permitted to hide under a jacket ??
@Rob C 503Â I think they pulled up his shirt to show he is not wearing body armor, in case anyone was interested...
Sick, pathethic bastard.
This is true horror, Hollywood could never write this. This kind of ruined my day. Cut an ankle monitor? Are these things not designed to be solid and not be tampered with? Why is it not metal? Horrible this happened to that little girl,
@Misanthrope97217 And NYC Mayor(?) Bloomberg is worried about Super Big Gulps??? I realize this happened in Albany, but I think the entire state of NY is really whacked.