Michigan Mom Caught On Camera K!lling Her Own Mother Over Custody of Her Child | HO”

The first time investigators heard 22-year-old Riley Donaldson call herself “God,” they realized this was not a typical homicide case. There was something unusually chilling about how she said it—calmly, confidently, as though pronouncing a simple fact.

She had been arrested less than 48 hours after the killing of her 45-year-old mother, Ada May Simmons Jones, a respected Michigan realtor and the legal guardian of Riley’s three-year-old daughter.

But the moment that changed the direction of the investigation wasn’t her arrest, or even the discovery of Ada’s body.

It was the surveillance footage—grainy, night-vision images from neighborhood cameras—showing Riley pulling into the driveway just before midnight… and speeding away three minutes later.

She had come with purpose.
She had come prepared.
She had come to kill.

This is the story behind one of Michigan’s most disturbing family murders—how an escalating custody battle, ignored warning signs, and a 22-year-old mother’s unraveling mental state culminated in the premeditated execution of the woman trying hardest to help her.

CHAPTER 1: THE WOMAN WHO HELD EVERYTHING TOGETHER

Before her death became a shocking headline, Ada May Simmons Jones was a woman deeply rooted in her community and her family. A 45-year-old realtor who built a stable, loving home in Southfield, Michigan, Ada was known for her warmth, drive, and devotion to her granddaughter, Price.

She shared her home with:

her husband

her three-year-old granddaughter

and her 77-year-old mother-in-law, who required assistance

It was a multigenerational household, structured, stable, and full of routines.

And then there was Riley.

CHAPTER 2: THE TROUBLED DAUGHTER NO ONE COULD REACH

To understand what happened on October 5, 2025, investigators had to unravel Riley’s life piece by piece.

Riley Donaldson, 22 years old, was a young mother who split her time between Ohio and Michigan. She worked at Ford Motor Company, had an on-and-off relationship with her daughter’s father, and used social media as her diary.

To outsiders, she looked like any young mother struggling to balance adulthood.

But beneath the surface, something darker had been growing.

Her Social Media: A Window Into Her Unraveling

In May, she wrote:

“My mom says she’s worried, but I’m covered in His favor.”

In June, she posted something more alarming:

“Do y’all want my mom’s number so you can ask her personally if I ever cared?”

By July, her posts had transformed from frustration to fury.

One long message—directed at her daughter’s father, Darnell—accused him of assault but then pivoted into rage toward her mother:

“The only reason Darnell isn’t in jail is because of my mother and Price… I wasn’t taken to the hospital. I was left unprotected… I don’t play about me. Others do. That stops here.”

The posts showed a woman building a narrative inside her mind:

Everyone was against her.
Everyone was failing her.
And her mother was the primary enemy.

CHAPTER 3: THE CUSTODY WAR THAT FUELED THE HOMICIDE

Years earlier, the State of Michigan determined that Riley was not fit to care for her child. This wasn’t due to finances or poverty—it was due to Riley’s own behavior, patterns of instability, and decisions that placed the child at risk.

So Ada stepped in.

She obtained full legal custody of her granddaughter, Price.

And yet, Ada didn’t shut Riley out. She allowed her to visit, to see her daughter, to stay connected. She believed—fervently, perhaps blindly—that one day Riley could stabilize enough to reclaim her role as a mother.

But in Riley’s eyes, Ada wasn’t saving her.
Ada was stealing from her.

Custody became a battlefield.
Love became resentment.
Support became control.

And by August 2025, the conflict had escalated to the point of criminal intervention.

CHAPTER 4: THE FIRST DISASTER—AND THE FIRST WARNING SIGN

On August 22, 2025, Riley took her daughter to Ohio without permission, stole Ada’s Kia Sedona, and disappeared.

Ada was terrified.

She called police, reporting:

her granddaughter missing

her daughter in mental crisis

her vehicle stolen

her dog taken

The car and child were later recovered in Ohio. The child was unharmed.

But Ada didn’t press charges.

She could have.

Instead, she pleaded for something else:

A mental health evaluation for her daughter.

Riley was transported to a psychiatric facility. She was released shortly after.

The system took note but took no further action.

Riley, however, held onto the moment—not as a cry for help, but as another grievance for her growing internal ledger.

CHAPTER 5: THE PURCHASE THAT SIGNED ADA’S DEATH WARRANT

On October 5, 2025, the same day she would commit murder, Riley purchased a 2017 Chrysler 300 from a private seller.

Police later determined that this was not a spontaneous buy.

It was preparation.

The vehicle became the centerpiece of her escape route, the evidence trail, and the storyline captured on neighborhood security cameras.

A dark-colored Chrysler 300 rolling down Banebridge Drive around 11:40 p.m.
Stopping at Ada’s home.
Lights off.
Engine running.

It was the last vehicle Ada would ever see.

CHAPTER 6: 11:40 P.M.—THE CAMERA CATCHES A KILLER ARRIVING

The surveillance video obtained by investigators is haunting in its simplicity.

A car.
A shadow.
A purpose.

The Chrysler 300 pulls into the driveway.
Riley steps out carrying a purse—inside it, detectives believe, was the murder weapon.
She approaches the front door.
She disappears inside the home.

Three minutes later, she runs out.

She dives into the driver’s seat.
She speeds away.

She leaves behind:

her purse

her identification

her mother’s body

and her own daughter upstairs, listening to the commotion

This is what “caught on camera” meant—not the gunshots, but the unmistakable evidence of intention.

In the eyes of prosecutors, the tape sealed the argument for premeditation.

CHAPTER 7: THE MURDER INSIDE THE HOUSE

Inside the home, Ada’s 77-year-old mother-in-law sat in another room, unaware that tragedy was seconds away.

She heard:

Disturbing sounds

A confrontation

Then 3–4 gunshots

Then footsteps running out the door

She would later tell police she recognized the voice.

And it wasn’t a stranger.

The horrors she described were consistent with one conclusion:

Ada was executed, quickly and deliberately, by her own daughter.

When police arrived at 11:50 p.m., they found Ada on the floor with:

a gunshot wound to the chest

a gunshot wound to the back

a graze wound to her head

shell casings nearby

Despite emergency efforts, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her granddaughter—Riley’s daughter—heard everything.

Though she did not see the murder, the psychological impact of that night would be lifelong.

CHAPTER 8: THE ESCAPE—AND THE MISTAKE

Within seconds, Riley fled Michigan.

She drove the Chrysler 300 to Toledo, Ohio, staying in the area for two hours. Investigators believe she was:

discarding the weapon

attempting to create an alibi

establishing distance

But she made one fatal mistake:

She left her purse at the crime scene.

Inside it?

her driver’s license

identification cards

personal items

the evidence tying her directly to the homicide

Detectives no longer had a suspect.

They had a name.
They had a face.
They had a motive.

CHAPTER 9: TECHNOLOGY CLOSES IN

Police pieced together the case with:

neighbors’ security footage

cell tower location data

license plate recognition cameras

vehicle movement tracking

timestamp reconstruction

The digital evidence was irrefutable:

Riley was at the house during the exact window of the murder.
She fled within minutes of the shooting.
She traveled to a second state immediately afterward.

Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren later said:

“Technology allowed us to track her movements from the crime scene all the way into Ohio.”

But by the next afternoon, Riley was no longer in Ohio.

She had returned to Michigan—specifically Detroit.

CHAPTER 10: THE ARREST—”MY NAME IS GOD”

On October 6, Southfield detectives, working with the Oakland County Auto Theft Task Force, located the Chrysler 300 in Detroit.

Riley was in the passenger seat, surrounded by three men who claimed no involvement.

Officers approached.

Bodycam footage shows the moment they opened the door.

“Hands up! Hands up! Hands!”

And then the chilling exchange.

“What’s your name?”

Riley looked directly at them.

“God.”

No panic.
No resistance.
No remorse.

Later, while being processed at the station, she invoked her right to counsel immediately—demonstrating a clear understanding of the legal system.

Chief Barren explained:

“When individuals refer to themselves as God, they are letting us know they decide who lives and who dies. She knew exactly what she was doing.”

CHAPTER 11: A HISTORY OF CONFLICT—THE FULL CONTEXT

At a press conference, Chief Barren recounted the earlier disappearance incident involving Price, the stolen vehicle, and Ada’s decision to seek mental health help for her daughter rather than jail time.

“Many parents would have pressed charges,” he said.
“She wanted to help her child.”

But by the fall of 2025, it was clear that:

Riley resented her mother

She believed Ada controlled her life

She blamed Ada for the custody loss

She viewed everyone as an enemy

She had become obsessed with regaining control—by any means

This was not a sudden outburst.

It was a slow-burning fuse.

CHAPTER 12: FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CHARGES—WITHOUT BOND

On October 10th, 2025, prosecutors filed:

Count 1: First-degree premeditated murder

Count 2: Felony firearm

Riley was denied bond.

If convicted, she faces life in prison without parole.

Police emphasized:

She had no prior criminal history

But the evidence demonstrated planning

Mental illness did not excuse the choices she made

Her deliberate actions before, during, and after the murder eliminated any claim of temporary insanity

Chief Barren stated bluntly:

“In 28 years of policing, this was not someone who didn’t understand what they were doing.”

CHAPTER 13: THE FAMILY LEFT BEHIND

Ada’s death shattered the people who loved her, especially her husband and mother-in-law, who now share the burden of raising Price.

A little girl who:

heard her grandmother’s last moments

lost her mother to incarceration

lost her grandmother to murder

will grow up piecing together the truth in fragments

will carry trauma she did not have words for

The ripple effect of this murder extended far beyond one moment.
It created a lifetime of consequences for the one person Ada fought hardest to protect.

CHAPTER 14: WHY DID RILEY LEAVE HER DAUGHTER BEHIND?

This is the question that still haunts the case.

If Riley killed Ada over custody, why didn’t she take her daughter?

Why kill the obstacle but leave the prize?

Investigators believe the answer lies in Riley’s mindset:

This wasn’t about motherhood.
It wasn’t about love.
It wasn’t even about custody.

It was about control.

Killing Ada was not an act of reclaiming her child.
It was an act of annihilating the person she blamed for her own failures.

CHAPTER 15: WHEN LOVE FAILS—AND SYSTEMS FAIL TOO

Could this murder have been prevented?

There were warning signs:

Social media posts documenting instability

The August abduction incident

The mental health evaluation

The escalating rage in her writing

The deteriorating relationship with her mother

The custody battles

The stolen car

The lack of accountability

Yet neither the family nor the system could stop the inevitable.

Ada tried to protect her daughter.
She tried to shield her granddaughter.
She tried to hold her family together.

In the end, she was killed by the very person she kept forgiving.

CHAPTER 16: A COMMUNITY GRAPPLES WITH THE UNTHINKABLE

Domestic violence is often framed around intimate partners.

But Chief Barren emphasized a painful truth:

“Family violence is also domestic violence. And it’s rising.”

Parents killing children.
Children killing parents.
Relatives turning on each other.
Mental illness, substance abuse, resentment, and instability fueling tragedies behind closed doors.

Ada’s murder became a case study in how quickly family tension can metastasize into lethal violence.

CHAPTER 17: THE CASE MOVES TOWARD TRIAL

As the investigation concluded, prosecutors prepared for a trial of enormous emotional and legal complexity.

They must prove:

premeditation

malice

intent

awareness

motive

The evidence points in one direction.

But Riley’s defense may argue:

mental health

trauma

diminished capacity

However, the facts stand:

She bought a car.
She drove across state lines.
She came armed.
She left her purse.
She fled to Ohio.
She returned to Michigan.
She tried to outrun technology.

Premeditation, in its clearest form.

CHAPTER 18: A MURDER THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN

Ada May Simmons Jones tried everything to help her daughter.

She saved her granddaughter.
She protected her home.
She extended grace repeatedly.
She believed, deeply, foolishly perhaps, that love could fix what was broken.

But love wasn’t what killed her.

Resentment did.
Entitlement did.
Delusion did.
And a daughter who believed she had divine authority made a choice no one can undo.

EPILOGUE: THE LESSON NOBODY WANTED

This case asks the hardest questions:

How do you protect children caught between unstable parents?

How do you intervene when mental health spirals into violence?

How many warnings does the system need before stepping in?

Can love alone stop a tragedy?

For Ada, the answers came too late.

For Price, the consequences will last forever.

And for Michigan, the footage of that black Chrysler 300 will be a grim reminder that sometimes, the most dangerous person in your life is the one who shares your blood.