A Texas woman was sentenced to 50 years in jail final week for the 2019 killing of her boyfriend’s 4-year-old daughter, in line with the Harris County District Lawyer’s Workplace.
Shawna Hooey, 33, of Tomball, was taking good care of her personal 5 youngsters and 4-year-old Jakyzia Alexander when she took her to a 24-hour emergency heart on Sept. 7, 2019, Harris County District Lawyer Kim Ogg mentioned in a information launch.
On the emergency clinic on the day of her dying, Alexander’s physique was already chilly and Hooey reportedly instructed medical personnel and authorities at the least 4 totally different tales about what occurred to the kid, who had a visual black eye and different accidents.
“We have to work together as a community to protect our children who are particularly vulnerable to abuse from violent adults,” Ogg mentioned. “We are thankful to the jurors who recognized that this was not a single incident, but a pattern of abuse and rightfully sentenced this woman to spend decades behind bars.”
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Shawna Hooey, 33, was sentenced to 50 years in jail for the homicide of 4-year-old Jakyzia Alexander. (Harris County District Lawyer)
Alexander started residing in Hooey’s residence when her father, who labored nights and had sole custody of her, entered a relationship with Hooey, Ogg mentioned. The lady’s father lived with members of the family at a special location nearer to his job, and infrequently noticed his daughter – solely seeing her by means of video calls within the two months earlier than her dying.
On the day of her dying, Hooey mentioned Alexander needed to be woken up and was taking deep, labored breaths and never appearing usually. Hooey mentioned she drove the lady round “in a hot car to try to get her to breathe normally,” however in the end went residence to vary garments and take Alexander to the emergency clinic, in line with Ogg.
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When Hooey took 4-year-old Alexander to the emergency clinic on the day of her dying, the kid’s physique was already chilly, in line with Harris County DA Kim Ogg. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
In different variations of what occurred to Alexander earlier than she died, Hooey claimed the kid ran right into a doorknob in a single occasion and threw herself towards a rest room paper holder within the rest room in one other. Each alleged incidents happened two days earlier than Hooey took Alexander to the emergency room, and he or she claimed the kid was appearing usually.
Additional examination revealed Alexander had indicators of repeated previous abuse, together with recent, resolving and healed accidents, in line with Ogg.
Alexander’s post-mortem confirmed she died from blunt drive trauma to the top, Ogg introduced, including that the deadly blow would have resulted in seizures, vomiting and dazed reactions virtually instantly. Witnesses testified that Alexander was appearing usually the day earlier than she was taken to the emergency clinic.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, and later charged Hooey with homicide.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace charged Hooey with homicide after investigating the circumstances surrounding Alexander’s dying. (MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
Following a nine-day trial, a Harris County jury convicted Hooey of homicide and sentenced her to 50 years in jail.
Assistant District Lawyer Gilbert Sawtelle, a chief within the district legal professional’s workplace’s Baby Fatality Part, prosecuted Hooey and mentioned baby abusers typically work to cover indicators of abuse by conserving youngsters away from different adults or dressing them to cowl the accidents.
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“Child abuse does happen, and when we see it, we need to call it out and notify the police and child protective services,” Sawtelle mentioned within the launch. “This girl was wearing long sleeves in the summertime—and if someone had noticed her injuries and intervened, she would probably still be here today.”
Hooey should serve at the least half of her prison sentence earlier than she shall be eligible for parole.
