Many true crime cases fade out of our memory, no matter how horrific or disturbing they might be.

But sometimes the details of a case are preserved in a piece of media. Shirley Turner's crimes and the first name of the son she murdered

became immortalized in the true crime film Dear Zachary, a letter to a son about his father.

Throughout her whole life, Shirley became

incredibly good at playing the victim. In her eyes, nothing was ever her fault. There was always

someone else to blame. And when Shirley blamed somebody, she was violent, obsessive, and abusive.

She had three children by different fathers and a string of failed relationships and

marriages.

One of her former roommates, who had lived with Shirley and her kids, was so concerned about

how the children were treated that he reported her to a psychiatrist and then promptly

moved out.

When social services were notified by the psychiatrist, they discovered that Shirley would regularly hit her kids with belts and then left them home alone for days at a time.

Worst of all, she didn't even see anything wrong with what she was doing.

Despite the evidence of abuse, the case was dropped, and Shirley's

children remained in her custody, until she decided that she wanted to attend medical school,

and then dumped the children back with their fathers without a second thought. And it wasn't just

Shirley's children that suffered under her care. It was also her romantic partners

who received a heaping helping of cruelty. Shirley systematically abused every single man

she ever dated, playing psychological mind games and obsessing over every little detail of how they

behaved. She didn't just want a happy relationship. She wanted to have complete

control at all times. When one boyfriend attempted to break up with Shirley, she started stalking

and harassing him before attempting suicide in his house, dressed in black, and holding a bunch

...