Tag: devonte hart
Cliff plunge that killed family of 8 ruled a murder-suicide
Article via NewYorkTimes
Two women drugged themselves and their six adopted children before intentionally killing the entire family by driving off a California cliff last year, a special coroner’s jury has ruled.
A jury of eight women and six men unanimously found Thursday that Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, committed suicide and that their six children — ages 12 to 19 — died “at the hands of another, other than an accident” in the Mendocino County murder-suicide on March 26, 2018, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The jury’s verdict came after eight investigators and one pathologist testified that the women took steps in advance to intentionally kill their entire family by driving off a 100-foot cliff along Highway 1 near Westport with their drugged children inside their 2003 GMC Yukon.
“They both decided that this was going to be the end,” California Highway Patrol investigator Jake Slates said. “That if they can’t have their kids, that nobody was going to have those kids.”
The fatal crash — the largest mass murder in Mendocino County history, according to Sheriff and Coroner Tom Allman — happened just days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation into the family after allegations surfaced that the children were being neglected.
The bodies of three of the children — 19-year-old Markis, as well as Jeremiah and Abigail, both 14 — were found outside the SUV. A medical examiner ruled Wednesday that both Jennifer and Sarah Hart, as well as Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail, died of broken necks.
The remains of Ciera, 12, were found weeks after the wreck in the Pacific Ocean, but her body was too decomposed to make a definitive ruling as to how she died. A partial foot found on a Northern California beach has been connected to 16-year-old Hannah, while the remains of the family’s sixth child, Devonte, 15, still have not been found.
Toxicology tests revealed that Jennifer Hart, who rarely drank, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.104 at the time, roughly the equivalent of five beers, investigators were told. And no one inside the SUV was believed to be wearing a seat belt, despite the fact that friends said Jennifer Hart regularly acted as a “seat belt Nazi,” often refusing to drive until her entire family buckled up, the Chronicle reported.
Separately, a search of Sarah Hart’s cellphone revealed Google searches inquiring what dosage of Benadyrl would kill a 120-pound woman, whether drowning would be painful and what common medications could be taken to prompt an overdose, the newspaper reports.
Toxicology reports found large doses of diphenhydramine — the active ingredient in Benadryl — in all of the victims. Slates said that the level found in Sarah Hart’s blood indicated she took 42 dosage units prior to the crash, while Markis had more than 19 doses in his blood.
“The children were more than likely unconscious,” Slates said. “Sarah would have been extremely intoxicated at that point.”
Despite the steps taken in advance of the fatal plunge, Slates said he didn’t think the Harts started their trip to California with the idea of killing themselves and their children. But at some point, that changed dramatically.
Read this update from January 2019 here
Devonte Hart’s Neighbors say they reported his parents before they plunged off the cliff
Police ID remains of fifth child of adoptive mother who drove family off California cliff
Devonte Hart’s Neighbors say they reported his parents before they plunged off the cliff
(CNN) – A fifth child from the Hart family, killed when their intoxicated adoptive mother drove the family off a California cliff last year, has been identified with the help of the girl’s biological mother, police say. She has been identified as 16-year-old Hannah Hart, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said in a Wednesday news release. One child, Devonte, 15, remains missing. “The most likely scenario is that he, too, perished in this incident, but the case remains open and active,” the sheriff’s statement said.
Hannah’s mom comes forward
Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, adopted two sets of siblings: Devonte was brother to Jeremiah, 14, and Ciera, 12, while Hannah was the sister of Abigail, 14, and Markis, 19. Devonte hugged a cop and went viralAfter Jennifer — by all indications, intentionally — drove the family off a cliff along US Highway 101 on March 26, authorities quickly identified the mothers, along with Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail. Two weeks later, Ciera’s body was found on a beach north of the cliff.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a report May 9 that human remains — part of a foot in a shoe, entangled in jeans — had been found on a beach, but the crime lab could not immediately identify them. “In October of 2018, a woman who identified herself as the mother of Markis, Abigail and Hannah Hart contacted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and indicated she had heard of this incident via a family member,” the sheriff’s statement said. The woman provided a DNA sample, and on Tuesday, the crime lab informed investigators that the remains were those of Hannah.
An elaborate ruse?
Jennifer and Sarah Hart presented as the ultimate hippie moms, but in the weeks after their deaths, officials in Oregon, Washington and Minnesota, as well as people who knew them, said the homeschooling, organic food and music festivals were merely cover for their twisted philosophy on child rearing. Among the allegations were that the Harts denied their kids food and forced them to lie on the floor for hours. Sometimes, punishment was meted out for behavior common among children, such as laughing at the dinner table.
The details of what preceded the family’s fate are not completely clear, but Bruce DeKalb, one of the family’s neighbors in Woodland, Washington, said the family moved to the area between mid-2017 and early 2018. They were “very private,” he said. Shortly after they moved in, DeKalb said, one of the girls came to the DeKalbs’ door at 1:30 a.m. requesting protection because her parents were mistreating her. “We ended up getting her back to her parents … and then I went over there the next morning and just checked on things, and everything seemed normal, and we let it go from there,” he said.
Prelude to a tragedy
Days before the family’s SUV was found at the bottom of the cliff, Devonte came over asking for food, saying his mothers had refused to feed him, as a form of punishment. Devonte continued coming over — at first, once a day, but later as often as three times a day — and the DeKalbs said they called Child Protective Services on March 23. No one answered the door when a social worker dropped by, DeKalb said, and the family was gone the next day. Police found evidence they were in Newport, Oregon, and Fort Bragg, California, on March 24.
The last sighting of the family came March 25, police said, when Jennifer Hart was seen on surveillance footage shopping at a Safeway in Fort Bragg. After discovering the family’s SUV, investigators said that Jennifer Hart’s blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit to drive. Sarah Hart and some of the children were sedated when Jennifer got a 70-foot start and accelerated off the cliff without braking. There were no skid marks at the scene, police said. “The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is poised to follow up any viable investigative lead but has not received any indication of Devonte being located elsewhere,” the department said Tuesday.
Article via CNN