What happened to Aileen Wuornos’ son? Queen of serial killers reportedly gave birth to baby boy

Netflix’s Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers explores the infamous case and troubled life of Aileen Wuornos, a convicted serial killer who faced execution in 2002. 

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, she was born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan, to teenage parents Diane Wuornos and Leo Pittman. Aileen, who was adopted by her maternal grandparents, had a difficult upbringing after her parents separated. Many sources note that she got pregnant at 14. 

Based on the case details about Wuornos v. State (via law.justia.com), a family friend raped her. Encyclopædia Britannica notes that it was her grandfather’s friend who had reportedly assaulted her. Wournos’ childhood best friend, Dawn Botkins, mentioned in an interview featured in the documentary, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (via Vice): 

“The guy that raped her… was, like, 60 years old, and he loved all the kids. [Aileen] was drunk, and he’d take advantage of her and shit like that, so that’s who she got pregnant by.” 

Per case details available on Justia, Aileen Wuornos waited six months before she revealed her pregnancy to her grandparents and blamed them for the same. Encyclopædia Britannica states that the then-14-year-old was sent to a home for unwed mothers. Wuornos gave birth to a baby boy in 1971, whom her grandfather forced her to give up for adoption. 

Aileen Wuornos’s son was eventually adopted, while she was expelled from her grandparents’ house. Per Biography.com, she lived in nearby woods, engaged in prostitution to survive, and, a few years later, moved to Florida.

Aileen Wuornos confessed to killing seven men and was convicted of six murders

Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers revisits archival footage from interviews, trial proceedings, and more, as well as includes new audio conversations. Wuornos confessed to having killed seven men, primarily on Florida highways between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Biography.com. 

In December 1989, the body of the first victim, Richard Mallory, was found. More such cases emerged in the following months, until Aileen Wuornos’s arrest in January 1991 outside The Last Resort Bar in Volusia County. A trial in Mallory's murder started in 1992, leading to the then-alleged serial killer’s first conviction and death sentence. 

Aileen Wuornos pleaded no-contest in five more cases and was convicted of six murders. According to Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, Wuornos remarked during a 1992 no-contest hearing (via People): 

“I would really appreciate to be sent back to court immediately ... I plead no contest and I meant that. It's the end of the line... I don't see why there should be a jury. I don't see why this should carry on... I've been framed. I've been set up. I'm ready to die and get out of your evil.”

Aileen Wuornos maintained that she killed each person in self-defense in interviews and asserted during a hearing in 2001 (according to the Associated Press): 

“I killed those men. I robbed them and I killed them as cold as ice. And I’d do it again too… There’s no chance in keeping me alive… ’Cause I’d kill again. I have hate crawling through my system.” 

Aileen Wuornos was 46 when she was executed at Florida State Prison in October 2002. Her case spawned multiple true crime documentaries and a film, Monster (2003), that earned Charlize Theron an Academy Award for Best Actress.