“What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” | The Horrific Case of Eltiona Skana

What this episode is about

The case of Eltiona Skana centers on the shocking and unprovoked murder of seven-year-old Emily Jones in the UK on Mother's Day 2020. Eltiona, a paranoid schizophrenic with a complex history of mental illness and immigration issues, committed this brutal act without any apparent motive, leaving a family shattered and raising questions about the struggles she faced with her mental health and treatment.

Key takeaways

• Innocent outings can turn deadly; even parks aren't safe from the unthinkable.
• El tiona Scana's erratic mental health was a ticking time bomb—systemic failures let tragedy unfold.
• From human trafficking claims to cold-blooded violence, Scana’s life was a chaotic narrative of evasion.
• On Mother’s Day, a family outing transformed into heartbreak—proving joy can be fleeting and fragile.
• Emily Jones' murder raises critical questions: How do we ensure mental health doesn't endanger innocent lives?

Who speaks in this episode?

• James (Guest) · 20 min speaking
• Mark Jones (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Sarah Barnes (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• El Tiana Scana (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Tony Canty (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Emily Jones, Sarah Barnes, El Tiona Scana, Mark Jones
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Tony Canty, Emily Jones, Park King, Mark Jones
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Emily Jones, Dr. Syed Afghan, Dr. Helen Whitworth, Rampton Hospital
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Emily Jones, Park King, Dr. Helen Whitworth, Dr. Syed Afghan
5. 20:00 – 23:15: Emily Jones, El Tiona Scana, Mark Jones, Boston

Notable quotes from "“What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” | The Horrific Case of Eltiona Skana"

• Thing whenever you hear of a murder you want to immediately know what the motive was in today's case of el tiona scana's ruthless murder of seven-year-old Emily Jones in the UK…

  about El Tiona Scana · at 0:12

• Who loved Emily dearly can be described as nothing short of heartbreaking seven-year-old Emily was at Queen's Park in Bolton UK with her parents Mark Jones who is a credit…

  about Park King · at 3:44

• Before the park was shut to Outsiders for investigation the paramedics rushed to the scene and Emily was airlifted by helicopter and admitted to Salford Royal Hospital the…

  about Emily Jones · at 6:09

• Man not done what he did it would have taken a much longer time to catch Scana Tony Canty's Act of Bravery at such a time is commendable soon cops arrived at the scene and El…

  about Tony Canty · at 8:38

• There's nothing that's gonna hurt me no she was taken to rampton hospital a high security psychiatric facility in Nottinghamshire for a mental health evaluation since it seemed to be a no mode of murder and there was a high.

  about Rampton Hospital · at 9:37

• Medication and acted rather erratically went off it with all of this happening at rampton Dr Syed Afghan resumed scana's medication on October 16 2020.

  about Dr. Syed Afghan · at 16:41

• After receiving enough evidence from a senior psychologist at ramton house Hospital here's what the psychiatrist Dr Helen Whitworth had to say during the hearing in reality I…

  about Dr. Helen Whitworth · at 19:32

• 2020. there's never going to be closure but it's safe to say that we all hope and pray that Mark and Sarah can find some peace knowing that Justice did take its course in Ghana…

  about Sarah Barnes · at 22:32

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Emily Jones — Person · Victim (central figure of the case) · 10 mentions · first at 0:19
  Seven-year-old child whose killing is the core event analyzed; her life, family, and community impact frame the episode.
• El Tiona Scana — Person · Perpetrator / defendant · 3 mentions · first at 0:16
  Identified as the attacker; her mental health history, immigration background, and legal outcome (manslaughter) are the episode’s main analysis.
• Mark Jones — Person · Victim’s father / impact statement speaker · 3 mentions · first at 3:57
  Father of Emily Jones; present at the park and later provides a key victim impact statement; described as a credit manager for a law firm.
  As nothing short of heartbreaking seven-year-old Emily was at Queen's Park in Bolton UK with her parents Mark Jones who is a credit manager for a law firm and Sarah Barnes who…
• Sarah Barnes — Person · Victim’s mother / witness (present at park) · 3 mentions · first at 4:02
  Mother of Emily Jones; present during the incident (jogging with earphones) and part of the family context described throughout.
• Tony Canty — Person · Key witness / intervenor (restrained suspect) · 3 mentions · first at 8:09
  Chased, tackled, and held Scana until police arrived; his actions are presented as pivotal to the immediate arrest.
• Dr. Syed Afghan — Person · Referenced expert (treating/assessing psychiatrist at Rampton) · 3 mentions · first at 12:40
  Provided a dissenting clinical opinion on Scana’s awareness at the time; resumed her medication and observed improvement, influencing court understanding.
• Dr. Helen Whitworth — Person · Referenced expert (psychiatrist evaluator; court-quoted) · 2 mentions · first at 12:40
  Supported diminished responsibility and is quoted emphasizing Scana’s lack of insight and need for lifelong therapeutic medication.
• Dr. John Crosby — Person · Referenced expert (psychiatrist evaluator) · 1 mention · first at 12:37
  One of three psychiatrists assessing Scana; supported diminished responsibility by concluding a psychotic episode occurred before the killing.
  Whether this was murder or manslaughter there were three psychiatrists to assess El Tiana Scana for this case Dr John Crosby Dr Syed Afghan and Dr Helen Whitworth at an earlier…
• Lindsay Canty — Person · Key witness (present during chase) · 1 mention · first at 8:09
  Was with Tony Canty during the incident; took their child while Tony pursued Scana; corroborates the witness/intervention narrative.
  The wild woman Tony was carrying his little daughter in his arms at the time but he quickly handed her to his wife Lindsay and chased after Scana he caught up to her tackled…

Places & events

• Park King — Place · Setting · 4 mentions · first at 3:55
  The park where the tragic murder of Emily Jones took place.
• Boston — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 3:55
  The town where the murder occurred and where Emily Jones lived.
  Who loved Emily dearly can be described as nothing short of heartbreaking seven-year-old Emily was at Queen's Park in Bolton UK with her parents Mark Jones who is a credit…
• Rampton Hospital — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 9:40
  High security psychiatric facility where El tiona Scana was held and treated.
• Salford Royal Hospital — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 6:16
  Hospital where Emily Jones was airlifted and pronounced dead.
  Before the park was shut to Outsiders for investigation the paramedics rushed to the scene and Emily was airlifted by helicopter and admitted to Salford Royal Hospital the…
• COVID-19 pandemic — Event · Context · 1 mention · first at 11:07
  The pandemic caused delays in the trial of El tiona Scana.
  Was a major possibility of this incident being entirely preventable when the trial took place we're talking about March 2020 when covid-19 hit the world like a truck this meant…
• Markland Hill Primary School — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 21:41
  The school where Emily Jones was a student.
  A child is it's it's a lot to take in Jones was a student of Markland Hill Primary School in Bolton she was very well liked by her fellow pupils and teachers the school made an effort to build a Memorial Garden in Emily's name.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 people kill for passion money Fame Revenge love and all sorts of other bizarre motives where they feel killing is a Justified solution and that's the thing whenever you hear of a murder you want to immediately know what the motive was in today's case of el tiona scana's ruthless murder of seven-year-old Emily Jones in the UK there is no motive this poor little girl was killed on Mother's Day for absolutely no reason whatsoever what really happened on that fateful Sunday afternoon in 2020 that tore a small family apart what drove El tiona Scana to dirty her hands in the cold-blooded murder of an innocent seven-year-old girl welcome or welcome back to Twisted Minds my name is James and in today's case I'll share with you the details of this utterly disgusting act of unprovoked violence by El tiona scan ha Scana was born on February 24 1990 in Albania and moved to Kuwait with her husband at the age of 31 in February

1:11 2012. this didn't last long and she moved back to Albania to live with her family in 2013. Scana then left Albania again in July 2014 and traveled to Frankfurt Germany and from there she illegally moved to the UK in August 2014 by hitching a ride in a truck this was arranged by altiona's Sister initially she had lied to the authorities that she was a victim of human trafficking and that's how she reached the UK but later it was found that that wasn't the case the whole human trafficking story was false despite this Scana applied for residents in the UK but was rejected in 2018. however later she was granted permission to stay in the UK until November 28 2020. El tiona scan it was a paranoid schizophrenic who was in treatment for several years she was on and off medication and even had to take injections at some point to keep her symptoms in check because she refused to take her oral medications she was known

2:15 to be rebellious when it came to ingesting medications at the mental health facility where she was being treated for several years she was physically violent with her family too Scana stabbed her own mother in 2017 and attacked her sister in another incident in 2015 she was sectioned after wielding a knife against her neighbor and was detained under the mental health act she ran off many times from the psychiatric facility where she was being treated she would often ask for a lead which she was granted and then she'd never returned she had appealed against her detention and although she lost initially in August 2018 she was deemed fit to return to society she was still under supervision and nurses visited her twice a week which was slowly reduced to fewer visits as the medical authorities thought that scan's condition was improving she didn't like the injections and eventually in 2019 successfully got

3:12 off them by convincing the medical staff that she would take her oral medications instead even after knowing that she refused oral medications multiple times in the past and was known to not consume them if left on her own the mental health authorities still trusted her and sent her off with the prescription El tion is violent crimes paired with a lack of judgment on the part of medical facilities led to innocent little Emily Jones losing her life and there was no one doing that horrific scene What followed afterward in the lives of those who loved Emily dearly can be described as nothing short of heartbreaking seven-year-old Emily was at Queen's Park in Bolton UK with her parents Mark Jones who is a credit manager for a law firm and Sarah Barnes who is a solicitor the parents separated when Emily was just three years old but they made sure that she got the valuable time that she deserved from each of them both Mark and

4:13 Sarah only live five minutes apart Queens Park Bolton is quite a big Park about 22 acres in size it has jogging tracks and a duck pond along a large grass field and a child's play area a perfect place for families like Emily's to spend their time together so on the beautiful spring afternoon of Mother's Day on March 22nd 2020 the family was out in the park to enjoy their time together until their innocent outing took a brutal turn Emily was wearing a nice navy blue jacket with red and white polka dots and was enjoying some play time on her scooter with her dad when she decided to ride off to her mom who was jogging in Emily tried calling her mother several times but Sarah Barnes had earphones on and couldn't hear her Emily went off on her scooter to reach her mother the little girl was completely oblivious to the fact that her life was about to tragically end altiona Scana was sitting on the bench

5:11 in the park and as soon as Emily passed by Scana grabbed the seven-year-old pulled out a craft knife from her bag and slit the little girl's throat she then dumped the child's bloodied body on the ground and bolted out at the park exit it happened so quickly that Emily's dad didn't even have the time to realize what he had seen at first he thought Emily probably fell off her scooter and the lady was helping her get back up it is only when Mark and Sarah Jones ran toward the scene to see what happened did they realize the gravity of the situation or little Emily lay on the ground bleeding profusely emergency calls were made and the paramedics were called in in the meantime two people who were present in the park when the murder took place helped keep Emily stable one of the two people was a registered nurse she performed CPR on Emily an emergency services helicopter flew in and several police cars lined up outside the park

6:09 before the park was shut to Outsiders for investigation the paramedics rushed to the scene and Emily was airlifted by helicopter and admitted to Salford Royal Hospital the doctors tried their very best to help Emily but unfortunately she went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 3 56 PM Emily Jones was born on January 18 2013 and was a bright and Lively young girl loved by all she had many friends at school and she was known to always be smiling she was well liked by everyone and loved participating in various activities it's just devastating that the vibrant little girl who was so full of laughter in life had to leave this world so soon and for no fault of her own her death had a huge impact not only on Emily's immediate family but also on the Bolton Community earlier that day El Tiana had purchased a pack of three craft knives from a pound shop before heading to Queen's Park Bolton that day it's evident that

7:11 she had plans to kill but she had absolutely no connection to Emily or her family she had no motive to kill a seven-year-old child it was an unprovoked cruel and random act of violence and it took away the happiness of a family while we think about patients suffering from mental disorders and try to understand them nothing and I mean absolutely nothing can ever justify this murder was there a lack of judgment by medical institutions on scana's condition were no strict measures taken by Mental Health Care Facilities to keep Scana under strict surveillance and medication someone somewhere definitely failed we'll explore that further in the video but before that let's see how eltiana Scana got arrested after attacking Emily Scana fled the scene but another couple walking in the park that day had seen her Escape after committing the horrific crime Tony Canty and his wife Lindsay were terrified when

8:14 they saw what had happened before their eyes but the chilling scene didn't stop Tony from leaping into action to catch the wild woman Tony was carrying his little daughter in his arms at the time but he quickly handed her to his wife Lindsay and chased after Scana he caught up to her tackled her and held her down firmly on the ground until police arrived at the scene had this courageous man not done what he did it would have taken a much longer time to catch Scana Tony Canty's Act of Bravery at such a time is commendable soon cops arrived at the scene and El Tiana Scana was arrested for the murder of Emily Jones from the footage it's clear to see that Scana looked unfazed it's impossible to tell that just minutes before her rest she had stabbed a seven-year-old child in cold-blooded murder she appeared to be calm as if nothing had happened when the officer asked her about what was in her bag she seemed to be extremely

9:12 frustrated and agitated it was like she felt inconvenienced by the arrest she casually told them that she'd kept a knife in her bag along with other stuff like juice water and her and her mom's ID card no no bumps no nothing no just my ID card ID card in my mom's ID card yeah there's a knife some water some juice okay nothing okay that's it so there's nothing nothing that's gonna hurt me no no she was taken to rampton hospital a high security psychiatric facility in Nottinghamshire for a mental health evaluation since it seemed to be a no mode of murder and there was a high possibility that Scana was suffering from some sort of mental disorder in fact even Tony Canty who had chased her and held her until the police arrived had said that she was rambling she also said something like she tried to kill me referring to Emily this made no sense but Rey's suspicion and a possibility that Scana was suffering from

10:14 schizophrenia this suspicion was confirmed when police raided skanna's apartment after her arrest and they found a stash of antipsychotic drugs A month's worth of medication was just lying around as I said earlier in the video Mental Health Care practitioners trusted Scana to take her prescribed oral medication despite her terrible track record now it's clear that she wasn't taking her meds in the month that led up to Emily's Ruth and unprovoked murder could this have indirectly led to Emily's murder was it all preventable maybe maybe not when it comes to Mental Health such things are always debatable but we will learn later in this case that there was a major possibility of this incident being entirely preventable when the trial took place we're talking about March 2020 when covid-19 hit the world like a truck this meant multiple subsequent strains of the virus multiple lockdowns and multiple delays to scamus

11:18 trial eventually the trial did begin over video conference in minshall Street Crown Court on November 26 2020 and would go on to be a seven day trial the jurors were told about scana's condition and the fact that she had been experiencing paranoid schizophrenia symptoms for years it was revealed that when she arrived in the UK a doctor had diagnosed her with PTSD but she never really attended any of the cognitive behavior therapy sessions that were recommended for her later on she did accept some help on the mental health front in 2015 however she failed to keep up with her medications she would often run away from the mental health facility she was in only to be brought back by the police she even refused to take her oral medication which was a key part of her treatment plan like I mentioned earlier in the video Scana was given antipsychotic injections instead due to her refusal to take her

12:15 oral medications she continued to take the injections for the next four to five years but then stopped taking them too because she didn't take well to the side effects the whole aim of the trial was not to decide whether or not scan a killed Emily because it was clear that she did the aim was to figure out whether this was murder or manslaughter there were three psychiatrists to assess El Tiana Scana for this case Dr John Crosby Dr Syed Afghan and Dr Helen Whitworth at an earlier hearing Scana had pleaded guilty to manslaughter owing to disminist responsibility arising from her mental disorder Dr Crosby and Dr Whitworth agreed that Scana suffered a psychotic episode before she killed Emily and therefore can be deemed to have had diminished responsibility at the time of the killing however Dr Afghan who was treated and assessing scanner at rampton had a different opinion he agreed that Scana did have a

13:16 psychological condition but he also believed that at the time of killing Emily Jones Scana was not completely out of her mind and that despite her mental health diagnosis she was very much aware of what she was doing what was Scana actually suffering from the condition is known as paranoid schizophrenia antipsychotic drugs are necessary for paranoid schizophrenia patients as they help curb the delusions and the patients are able to relax and stay calm for longer periods of time as is said it's a lifelong illness that needs lifelong medication and in scana's case she had stopped taking her medication which can prove to be fatal for paranoid schizophrenics and for the people around them her schizophrenic symptoms and episodes were brought to light during the trial in the past Scana had complained about her neighbors as she was constantly worried that they were plotting against her and wanted to harm

14:14 her with electricity as mentioned earlier she had also attacked her family members before she had bitten her mother stabbed her in the hand and hit her on the head with an iron there were red flags and big waving ones at that the attack on this Young and Beautiful Soul Emily Jones tragically ended in the death of the little girl but if Scana didn't personally know Emily and her family and had no logical motive to kill her can this murder be called premeditated in legal terms here are the chilling words of el Tiana Scana she said this to a nurse at the high security rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire in August where she was being assessed before the trial it was premeditated I waited in a park and picked my victim I did what I did and tried to run away but this was coming from someone who is off their antipsychotic drug treatment and therefore this doesn't amount to premeditated Scana had no idea what she

15:15 was talking about when she said that she was also kept off antipsychotic drugs at rampton to check how this affected her and the results weren't good she had angry outbursts and on some occasions El Tiana even threatened to kill the staff and their families at rampton she began to act weird toward the end of July when she spoke in a foreign language and asked one of the staff members if she was going to die soon soon after complaining that her skin was constantly burning and that she could feel some kind of interference from electrical energy on August 5th 2020 she saw a girl who resembled Emily on the television and laughed hysterically now that's really cruel and creepy here's another chilling statement from El Tiana Scana that was told to the court by Jonathan petite a trained nurse and team leader at rampton Scana had said this to him on August 16 2020. I killed someone that's why I'm here

16:13 it's been three months I just want to put it behind me when Jonathan asked her how she was feeling at rampton here's how she snapped back at him what do you want me to do cry all the time according to El Tiana Scana her mental state was the fault of the home office and it's the injections that led to her psychopathy she felt the injections worsened her condition but the doctors claimed otherwise they noticed that scanner was better while on medication and acted rather erratically went off it with all of this happening at rampton Dr Syed Afghan resumed scana's medication on October 16 2020.

16:53 he noticed that Scana was much calmer and acted relatively normal while she was on her medication as opposed to when she was often even though Dr Afghan felt like Scana had some presence of mine when she killed Emily this evidence was enough to prove scana's diminished responsibility on the day she killed Emily Jones they wanted the court to see that Scana didn't know what she was doing and her uncontrolled Behavior was a result of her mental illness she wasn't in a sane State of Mind when the unfortunate incident occurred but does that make her killing any less cruel or Emily's life any less valuable no but in legal terms it wouldn't be termed a murder since it wasn't premeditated it was manslaughter can one switch the term change a criminal sentence in this case Scana was eventually charged with manslaughter because of her diminished responsibility arising from her mental disorder how does diminished

17:48 responsibility affect the sentencing of a criminal the defense of diminished responsibility removes the idea of premeditation of murder which means that it wasn't planned and happened in the Heat of the Moment or in self-defense or because of a mental illness in this case the offender eltiana Scana had an abnormality of mental functioning caused by a recognized medical condition paranoid schizophrenia which the defense used to plead against murder charges depending on the case the sentence for manslaughter is slightly more relaxed than it is of murder as it isn't considered premeditated after all the evidence that pointed toward diminished responsibility owing to El Tiana scana's mental illness prosecutor Michael Brady eventually withdrew the murder charges as they didn't have enough evidence to prove otherwise despite all the proof of her mental illness Mr Justice wall believed that Scana appeared to be aware

18:46 of her actions even if partially so there's evidence of her presence of Mind as she had purchased three craft knives before going to Queen's Park that day this makes it clear that she did plan on killing someone unfortunately seven-year-old Emily was in the wrong place at the wrong time Scana had also fled the scene after killing the little girl this proves that she was well aware of what she was doing if not why add that to the fact that she didn't inform the authorities about not taking her medication and it's evidence enough that she wasn't completely out of her mind when she mercilessly snatched Emily's future and the family's happiness away from them she partially knew what she was doing the trial ended with Scana being not guilty of murder the prosecution dropped the charge of murder after receiving enough evidence from a senior psychologist at ramton house Hospital here's what the psychiatrist Dr

19:39 Helen Whitworth had to say during the hearing in reality I don't think this was willful to see this was a woman who did not understand she was mentally ill in my opinion Miss Scana needs to be therapeutically medicated at all times probably for the rest of her life on December 8 2020 El Tiana Scana was sentenced to life with a minimum of 10 years and 8 months in jail after admitting to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility she is being held and treated at rampton hospital a psychiatric facility in Nottinghamshire this was a hybrid order which meant that Scana would be treated and once deemed fit to move to prison for the remainder of her sentence in a heartbreaking impact statement Emily's Father Mark Jones said how can you put into words how you feel about the senseless death of your only child it is just too difficult to comprehend our future has also been taken away

20:39 how can you enjoy life when the biggest part of it isn't there anymore we will never see Emily grow and become the wonderful young lady we knew she would become we will never see her hold her own child in her arms as we held her how can an innocent child playing in the park be killed in such a violent and monstrous way Emily Jones paid with her life for nothing she was just a seven-year-old girl having fun with her family in a park on a Sunday afternoon how could she or her parents have ever have seen it coming it's just all so tragic one scanner's condition improves she will be transferred to a prison for the remainder of her sentence the worst part is is that if she shows good behavior for an extended period of time she might even be released in walk free she will still be under supervision for the rest of her life but just the thought of her living in society like everyone else after senselessly killing

21:34 a child is it's it's a lot to take in Jones was a student of Markland Hill Primary School in Bolton she was very well liked by her fellow pupils and teachers the school made an effort to build a Memorial Garden in Emily's name they started a fundraiser with a target of 5 000 pounds it was reached within just 12 hours of starting the campaign and soon enough surpassed 11 000 pounds head teacher Louise close said we want a lasting Legacy for this little girl who was taken so soon so quickly and tragically a separate fundraiser was started by Emily Jones's parents they raised over ten thousand pounds within 24 hours the funds went to the Bolton's Lads and Girls Club which provides Sports and art activities for children and teenagers across Bolton the amount reached over 25 000 pounds by the time of the criminal sentencing in December 2020. there's never going to be closure but it's safe to say that we all hope

22:37 and pray that Mark and Sarah can find some peace knowing that Justice did take its course in Ghana may never walk free as for the little girl who lost her life way before it was time she will be missed Forever by those who knew and loved her a beautiful young Soul who walked the Earth for way less time than she deserved she impacted many people's lives positively in her short but meaningful time on Earth May her soul rest in peace thanks for tuning in to Twisted Minds that was the case of el tiona Scana and why don't you go ahead and click on one of the two videos on your screen for another one of our videos

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "“What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” | The Horrific Case of Eltiona Skana"?

James (Guest), Mark Jones (Guest), Sarah Barnes (Guest), El Tiana Scana (Guest), Tony Canty (Guest).

What is "“What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” | The Horrific Case of Eltiona Skana" about?

The case of Eltiona Skana centers on the shocking and unprovoked murder of seven-year-old Emily Jones in the UK on Mother's Day 2020. Eltiona, a paranoid schizophrenic with a complex history of mental illness and immigration issues, committed this brutal act without any apparent motive, leaving a family shattered and raising questions about the struggles she faced with her mental health and…

What is mentioned in this Twisted Minds episode?

15 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Emily Jones, El Tiona Scana, Park King, Mark Jones, Sarah Barnes, Boston. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "“What do you want me to do? Cry about it?” | The Horrific Case of Eltiona Skana"?

The episode runs 23 min; the transcript is about 3,851 words in 24 timestamped sections.

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