Home  ›  Hart Family Car Crash Search for More Victims

Hart Family Car Crash Search for More Victims

Written By Thursday, 3 March 2022 Add Comment Edit

2018 familicide

Hart family unit murders
Hart-family.png

Markis, Hannah, Jeremiah, Devonte, Ciera, and Abigail Hart
Location Mendocino County, California, U.S.
Date March 26, 2018; three years ago  (2018-03-26)

Set on blazon

 Familicide, murder–suicide
Deaths eight (including both perpetrators)
Victims 6 adopted children
Perpetrators Jennifer Hart, Sarah Hart Coordinates: 39°42′08″North 123°48′14″W  /  39.7023005°Due north 123.803873°Westward  / 39.7023005; -123.803873

The Hart family massacre was a murder–suicide which took place on March 26, 2018, when Jennifer Hart and her wife, Sarah Hart, murdered their vi adopted children – Ciera (aged 12), Abigail (14), Jeremiah (fourteen), Devonte (xv), Hannah (xvi), and Markis (nineteen) – and themselves by driving the family'due south sport utility vehicle off a cliff in Mendocino County, California, The states.[1] [2] Jennifer Hart was in the commuter's seat, and Sarah Hart was in the front passenger seat.

Background [edit]

Jennifer Jean Hart (June 4, 1979 РMarch 26, 2018[3]) and Sarah Margaret Hart (April eight, 1979 РMarch 26, 2018,[3] n̩e Gengler) were both from South Dakota; Jennifer originated from Huron, Sarah from Big Stone Metropolis, although some sources merits Ortonville, Minnesota Рadjacent to Big Stone City Рas Sarah's hometown.[4] [five] [half-dozen] Both women were the eldest children of their families. Jennifer had two siblings and Sarah had iii siblings.[7] According to her father, Jennifer was not initially raised as a Lutheran just was baptized equally i.[v]

Jennifer attended Huron High Schoolhouse.[5] Sarah attended high school in Minnesota.[eight] The two women attended and began their relationship at Northern State University (NSU);[ix] Sarah had initially attended Academy of Minnesota for 1 semester before transferring to NSU,[8] while Jennifer started at Augustana University before transferring in 1999.[5] Both women majored in elementary education,[8] with Sarah focusing on special didactics. Afterwards Sarah graduated in 2002, Jennifer left the university without graduating.[9] [5] In 2005, Sarah asked a local court to have her last proper name altered to match her partner'southward.[10] The couple went to Connecticut to be married in 2009; at the fourth dimension same-sex marriage was not yet legal in every U.S. land.[11]

On Facebook, Jennifer stated that the women were initially closeted and faced ostracism once they publicly outed themselves, prompting the couple to move.[nine] They moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, in 2004,[12] where both women worked at a Herberger's store.[13] Jennifer worked miscellaneous jobs until she became a stay-at-abode mom in 2006, while Sarah became a manager at Herberger's.[12] Afterwards a menses of living in West Linn, Oregon,[14] the Harts moved to an unincorporated area nigh Woodland, Washington;[15] Sarah became a manager at a Kohl's in Hazel Dell.[xvi] The couple were living most Woodland at the time of the murders.[14]

The Harts received funds from the state of Texas, covering their 6 adopted children, which accounted for almost 50% of the family's income.[17] [16] Members of Jennifer'southward and Sarah'due south families stated that the two women distanced themselves from them, although both families were accepting of their sexual orientation.[18] Jennifer estranged herself from her father after 2001.[5] State authorities reports stated that the couple cut off contact with their relatives because of criticism near their parenting.[nineteen]

Adoption [edit]

Prior to adopting their half-dozen children, the Harts were foster parents to a 15-year-quondam girl.[20] A calendar week before their first iii children were due to arrive, the Harts dropped the girl off at the local kindergarten location almost where the girl was to attend a session with a therapist. The therapist then informed the girl that the Harts would non be coming dorsum for her.[20]

Abigail (born 2003), Hannah Jean (born 2002),[21] and Markis Hart (built-in 1998) were adopted by the Harts from Colorado Canton, Texas;[22] the placement came on March iv, 2006, and they were adopted that September.[11] [10] In June 2008, they adopted three additional children: Ciera Maija (born 2005),[23] Devonte Jordan (built-in 2002),[24] and Jeremiah Hart (built-in 2004), originating from Houston.[11] [19] After their biological mother, Sherry Davis,[25] lost custody due to substance abuse bug in August 2006,[19] the Davis children were given to their paternal aunt, Priscilla Celestine, under the condition that they have no contact with their biological mother.[25] However, after she was required to work another shift, Celestine allowed Davis to babysit the children, which a case worker observed.[26] As a upshot, the children were removed from Celestine's care and a court prevented Celestine from obtaining permanent custody.[10] The Davis children were put into foster intendance; their older blood brother, Dontay, was not adopted by the Harts due to behavioral issues.[27]

Prior to the murders, 12-yr-old Devonte came into the national spotlight when he was photographed crying as he embraced a police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon, resulting from the Ferguson unrest.[28] The prototype became known as the "hug felt 'round the globe."[29] Jennifer was very active on social media and used Facebook to project an prototype of a loving, happy family while also sharing her thoughts on race, politics, and trips the family went on. This helped mask some of the problems inside the family unit. One allegation of child abuse from 2013 touched upon Jennifer's employ of Facebook, saying that, "... the kids pose and are made to wait like one large happy family, simply later the photo event, they go dorsum to looking lifeless."[30]

Abuse [edit]

Minnesota [edit]

In 2008, while the family was living in Minnesota, a instructor observed bruises on Hannah'south left arm, and was told she had been hitting past Jennifer with a belt. Inside months, all six children had been pulled out of the public school system for a year.[30] In 2010, Abigail said that she had "owies" on her back and stomach, stating that she felt threatened by the Harts. The Harts had beaten her and held her head in cold water over a penny they assumed she had stolen. When regime became involved, all children claimed that they had been spanked constantly and deprived of nutrient. Sarah took responsibility for the abuse, pled guilty to assail, and was sentenced to community service for a yr.[xxx] 1 yr later, Hannah reportedly told a school nurse that she had not eaten all day; Sarah claimed that Hannah was merely "playing the food carte" and recommended that she only be given h2o. Soon afterwards, all six children were taken out of public schools and were homeschooled from and then on.[31]

Oregon [edit]

In 2013, Oregon authorities were notified of the abuse allegations in Minnesota. Their investigation included separate interviews of everyone in the family unit, as well as interviews of people who knew the family. Two family friends stated that the children were forced to heighten their easily before speaking, could not wish each other a happy altogether, and could not laugh at the dinner table. There were other reports that the children were poorly fed and looked pocket-sized for their ages. One family friend reported that Jennifer had ordered a pizza for the children, but each was only allowed to accept a small slice. When Jennifer discovered that the pizza was gone, she punished the children by not feeding them breakfast and forcing them to prevarication on their bed for 5 hours.[31] Friends also stated that the children acted "scared to decease of Jen" and likened them to "trained robots".[31] [30]

However, the interviews of the children themselves revealed no new incidents of abuse, nor did they mention anything that had happened in Minnesota. When Jennifer herself was interviewed, she claimed that whatsoever family problems were the results of others not being tolerant to ii lesbian mothers with half-dozen African-American children. In the finish, the investigation could not conclude whether the Harts were guilty of anything or whether there was a "safety threat".[31]

Washington [edit]

In August 2014, subsequently the Harts had moved to Woodland, Washington, Hannah jumped out of her second-story bedroom window at effectually one:30 a.g. and approached the residence of her next-door neighbors, the DeKalbs. Hannah reportedly pleaded, "Don't make me go back! They're racists and they abuse u.s.a.!" Shortly afterwards, the Harts found Hannah and took her back habitation. The following day, Jennifer attempted to explain the incident by claiming that Hannah was lying, that the children occasionally acted out because they were "drug babies," and that Hannah's biological mother was bipolar.[xxx]

After this incident, the DeKalb family came into contact with Devonte, who constantly begged for nutrient and asked the DeKalbs not to tell Jennifer about these requests. In later conversations with Devonte, he told them that his adoptive mothers withheld food every bit punishment and that the children were sometimes abused. This, combined with the earlier incident with Hannah, made the DeKalbs report the Harts to both the police and to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Case workers from DSHS tried to attain the Harts twice: once on March 23, 2018—iii days before the murders—and once on the day of the murders.[xxx] [31]

According to an incident report post-obit the murders, it was reported that Sarah told a co-worker "[that] she wish[ed] someone told her it was okay not to have a big family. So she and Jennifer would not have adopted the children."[32]

Deaths [edit]

On March 26, 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart murdered all six of their children when Jennifer drove their vehicle, a GMC Yukon XL,[xiii] over a 100-foot (30 g) cliff on California State Route i, in Mendocino Canton, California, near Westport.[33] [11] The bodies of five of the children (Hannah, Markis, Jeremiah, Abigail, and Ciera) were plant in or near the vehicle, which had landed upside downwardly on a beach beneath the cliff. The body of Devonte has not been establish.[eleven] [34] A superior court guess ruled that Devonte was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, and a death certificate was signed on Apr 3, 2019.[35]

Authorities determined that the Yukon had been intentionally driven off the edge of the cliff.[xi] The car had a black box that recorded parameters of the bulldoze and fall.[36] A fourteen-fellow member coroner's jury unanimously ruled the case a murder–suicide.[34] [33] [37] The inquest was called to decide crusade of expiry, but not any responsibility in the civil or criminal fields.[38] The California Highway Patrol stated that criminal prosecution was not possible due to the deaths of any responsible parties.[39]

Toxicology results showed that Jennifer's blood alcohol content was over the legal limit at the time of the crash,[xi] [34] and that both Sarah and two of the children had diphenhydramine in their systems.[34] Sarah had made Google searches before the crash, inquiring about Benadryl, no impale shelters, and the nature of drowning.[33] The Mendocino County Sheriff'south Section officially closed the example and released declassified records in 2019.[twoscore]

See also [edit]

  • Familicide
  • Disappearance of Susan Powell
  • Murder of Zachary Turner
  • Murder of Hannah Clarke

References [edit]

  1. ^ Levenson, Eric (April 5, 2018). "Authorities now believe all 6 Hart children were in the SUV at the fourth dimension of the fatal cliffside crash". CNN.
  2. ^ "Hart family unit crash: Investigators reveal details from search of home after family SUV plunged off cliff". CBS. Baronial 25, 2018.
  3. ^ a b https://www.scribd.com/document/377205446/2013-LEA-Written report-Redacted p. 1/12
  4. ^ Walsh, Paul (April 25, 2018). "Years of abuse allegations gathered on Oregon parents who drove over ocean cliff with kids". Minneapolis Star Tribune . Retrieved Dec 30, 2019. [...]and Sarah Gengler, from Ortonville, Minn.
  5. ^ a b c d due east f Young, Molly (April 2018). "Devonte Hart'south mother: tracing her life from the Midwest to her drive off the California cliff". The Oregonian . Retrieved Dec 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Callahan, Mary; J. D.Morris (March 29, 2018). "Ex-neighbour describes 'surreal' contact with family feared dead in Mendocino Coast crash". Press Democrat . Retrieved January four, 2020.
  7. ^ "Cleaved Harts, Episode 2: Full Transcript". Glamour. December 11, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2021. – View at Yahoo! Finance
  8. ^ a b c Bush, Evan; Nina Shapiro (Apr viii, 2018). "Who were the Harts, really? Mystery surrounds family unit that plunged off California cliff". Seattle Times . Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c Smiley, Lauren (September 6, 2018). "Two White Moms. Vi Black Kids. I Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the 'Perfect' Hart Family unit". Glamour.
  10. ^ a b c "Hart family deadly crash: a timeline". The Oregonian. March 29, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Stevens, Matt (January 17, 2019). "Before Harts Plunged Off a Cliff, Strain Dogged Family". The New York Times.
  12. ^ a b Heim, Joe; Julie Tate (July 12, 2018). "Abuse, neglect and a system that failed: The tragic lives of the Hart children". Washington Post . Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Broken Harts Podcast, Episode i: Full Transcript". Glamour. Dec 4, 2018. Retrieved May xxx, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Bush-league, Evan; Shapiro, Nina (Apr viii, 2018). "Who were the Harts, actually? Mystery surrounds family that plunged off California cliff". The Seattle Times.
  15. ^ "Affidavit for Search Warrant" (PDF). State of Oregon. Retrieved June 18, 2020. – The whole accost in the document shows that the house is not in the Woodland city limits; fifty-fifty though it has a "Woodland, WA" postal address, it is not in the Woodland urban center limits. This document is on the website of the Portland Tribune
  16. ^ a b Bailey, Everton Jr.; Molly Immature. "Within the Hart family unit domicile, police search reveals debts, contradictions". The Oregonian . Retrieved January three, 2020.
  17. ^ "Texas likely paid Hart moms $270k to intendance for adopted kids, report says". The Statesman Journal. The Oregonian. April 18, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  18. ^ "Cleaved Harts, Episode 8: 'There Were Skilful Times'". Glamour. January 29, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c Callan, Will (November 2018). "Telling Lies: How a Decade of Deception Led to the Hart Family's Tragic End on the Mendocino Coast". Sonoma Mag . Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Shapiro, Nina (Apr 12, 2018). "Story of Harts' foster child is ane of heartbreak, though not the way some might await". The Seattle Times.
  21. ^ "Hannah Jean Hart". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  22. ^ Levenson, Eric (Apr 6, 2018). "Authorities now believe all half-dozen Hart children were in the SUV at the time of the fatal cliffside crash". CNN . Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  23. ^ Jennings, Angel (April 17, 2018). "One of iii missing Hart children is establish dead after plunge off cliff". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved Jan four, 2020.
  24. ^ "Devonte Jordan Hart". FBI. March 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Asgarian, Roxana (January 30, 2019). "Devonte Hart's biological mom: They gave my kids 'to monsters'". The Oregonian . Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  26. ^ Asgarian, Roxana; Shane Dixon Kavanaugh (April 12, 2018). "Devonte Hart family crash: 'It's just devastating,' says aunt who fought for custody". The Oregonian . Retrieved January five, 2020.
  27. ^ Asgarian, Roxana (December 11, 2019). "His siblings were killed by their adoptive female parent. He was left in foster intendance to endure a more common fate". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 30, 2021. – Alternating version at the Seattle Times: "His siblings were killed when the Hart family'due south van went off a cliff. He had been left in foster care." Alternate title #2 : "How the foster care-to-prison pipeline trapped the Hart children'south biological brother"
  28. ^ Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (March 28, 2018). "Child in viral Portland police hug photo missing, 5 family members dead afterward California cliff crash". The Oregonian.
  29. ^ Espinoza, Joshua (March 29, 2019). "Body of Devonte Hart, Kid Who Hugged Cop in Viral Protest Pic, Notwithstanding Missing ane Twelvemonth Later". Circuitous.
  30. ^ a b c d east f "Edge Of The Cliff: How An American Dream Turned Into A Nightmare For A Model Family unit". Investigation Discovery . Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  31. ^ a b c d e Stevens, Matt (April 27, 2018). "Hart Family unit, Before Driving Off Cliff, Hid Nighttime Dwelling Life From View". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November sixteen, 2019.
  32. ^ Sokmensuer, Harriet (September 19, 2018). "Earlier Wife Drove Her and Their Kids off a Cliff, Mom Expressed Regret Over Adopted Family". People.
  33. ^ a b c Holcombe, Madeline; Augie Martin (April 6, 2019). "Jennifer Hart drove her six children to their deaths every bit her married woman looked up how much they would endure, a jury says". CNN . Retrieved Jan ane, 2020.
  34. ^ a b c d "Family cliff plunge case in California ruled murder-suicide". BBC. Apr 5, 2019.
  35. ^ Sokmensuer, Harriet (March 26, 2019). "Where is Devonte Hart? Boy in Viral Photo Was in Fatal Cliff Crash, But Trunk Remains Missing". People . Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  36. ^ Young, Molly (Apr 4, 2019). "Hart family unit inquest: Information from SUV's 'black box' reveals new details about its fatal terminal trip". The Oregonian . Retrieved June xviii, 2020.
  37. ^ Callahan, Mary (April four, 2019). "Jury finds Hart family crash on Mendocino Coast was murder-suicide". The Press Democrat . Retrieved January one, 2020.
  38. ^ Dumont, Tyler (Apr three, 2019). "California coroner: Devonte Hart, teen previously reported missing later SUV crash, is dead". KPTV . Retrieved January i, 2020.
  39. ^ Smiley, Lauren (September 6, 2018). "Two White Moms. Half-dozen Black Kids. 1 Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the 'Perfect' Hart Family". Glamour . Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  40. ^ "Mendocino Canton Sheriff's Office releases Hart Family public records". The Willits News. April 11, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

External links [edit]

  • "Hart Family" Index of articles from The Seattle Times
  • Broken Harts podcast and Cleaved Harts: Behind the Episodes (includes transcripts) – Glamour
  • MEDIA Informational/NEWS RELEASE. Mendocino County Sheriff'southward Function (MCSO). April 7, 2018.
  • "Hart Family Coroner's Inquest – Press Conference". Mendocino County Sheriff's Part. April 4, 2019.
  • http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2018/images/04/25/2013.07.23.cps-report_redacted[v].pdf – Minnesota child protective services (CPS) written report, posted by CNN
  • Priscilla Celestine v. Department of Family and Protective Services—Appeal from 313th District Courtroom of Harris County

allmonpentor.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_family_murders

0 Response to "Hart Family Car Crash Search for More Victims"

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel