How Could You? Hall of Shame-Emma Salinas case-Child Death UPDATED and Lawsuit
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions
From Gary, Indiana,foster mother Jamila S. Hodge, 32, “was charged after a 21-month-old girl was found dead in her crib, police said Saturday.
Jamila S. Hodge, who was the toddler’s foster mother, was charged with murder, aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and other felonies, police said.
On Thursday, Gary police responded to a home in the … Ash Avenue for a report of an unresponsive child. The Lake County Coroner’s Office pronounced the girl dead at the scene.
Angela Salinas, the toddler’s biological mother, identified the girl as Emma Salinas. Salinas said her daughter appeared to be sick the day before she was found dead in her crib, and had asked that she be taken to the doctor.
“I saw her the night before. I had a visitation with my four kids. It was horrible. That was the last time I hugged her,” Salinas said.
Salinas’ four children were put in the same foster home in Gary after the Indiana Department of Child Services took them away after a domestic incident with her boyfriend in January 2016.
From the start, she felt something was wrong.
“My second oldest, she had a bruise by her eye and she didn’t want to tell me. She was scared. And my son had a stye in his eye and he had bruises on them. And they wouldn’t tell me anything. They were scared,” Salinas said.
She said her concerns were dismissed and repeatedly told that her children were OK.
An autopsy Saturday did not provide information about the girl’s injuries pending further investigation, but ruled her manner of death a homicide, the coroner’s office said.
The Indiana Department of Child Services did not return requests for comment on Saturday.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Det. Kristopher Adams, of the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit, at 219-755-3855 or the Crime Tip Line at 866-CRIME-GP.”
Foster mother charged in toddler’s death in Gary
[ABC7 5/7/17]
“A child found dead in a home in Gary’s Miller neighborhood last week likely died 12 hours before her foster mother called authorities, according to court documents.
Jamilia Shenese Hodge, 32, was charged in Lake Superior Court with murder stemming from the death of 20-month-old Emma Salinas. Hodge also was charged with aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, battery resulting in death to a person younger than 14 and battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person younger than 14.
The murder charge is punishable by 45-65 years.
Hodge told police that Emma was one of four foster children in her care. She called 911 around 11:42 a.m. Thursday to report that the child had died, according to court records.
Autopsy findings showed the girl suffered a possible dislocation of vertebrae in her neck and died of asphyxia due to suffocation, which was complicated by blunt force trauma to the head. The child also had bleeding on the brain, the probable cause affidavit states.
The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy estimated the child had been dead at least 12 hours before the 911 call, according to court records.
In an interview with police, Hodge said she took two of her foster children to school that morning, returned home to take a third child to school and came back home around 8 a.m., when she noticed Emma’s face was facing the wall in the same position as when Hodge left, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Emma had arrived home around 7:30 p.m. May 2 from visiting her biological mother, who complained the child was sick with a fever and diarrhea, records state.
Hodge’s boyfriend returned to the Miller home around midnight May 3 and heard Emma yelling or crying in the crib while the other children in the bedroom were trying to sleep, records state. The boyfriend told police he opened the bedroom door and told Emma to quiet down, and she did, records state.
Hodge said she did not get out of bed when her boyfriend and his brother came home from working out, but both said Hodge was awake and in the kitchen when they came home, records state.
In a follow-up interview, Hodge said she put a hand over the toddler’s face to stop her from crying and put her left hand on the child’s chest as she lay on her back, records state. As she spoke with investigators, Hodge started crying and said she was sorry for what happened and that it was an accident, records state.
Attempts to contact Emma’s biological mother were not successful.
Indiana Department of Child Services spokesman James Wide said in an email that he could not confirm specific details in the case or where the other children living with Hodge at the time of the child’s death would be placed.
“If there is a situation where a parent/guardian is arrested and there are children present, law enforcement will contact our local office to ensure the children are safe,” he wrote. “We would look for appropriate relatives for placement. If no relatives are available, we look for a non-relative placement.”
Before foster parents are licensed in Indiana, they must go through a screening process that includes fingerprinting and a national criminal background check, and complete First Aid, CPR and Universal Precautions training. They must be at least 21, demonstrate financial stability, prove they live in a place that passes fire and physical safety standards, consent to home visits and complete licensing paperwork, Wide said.”
Court documents: Foster child likely died hours before police called
[Chicago Tribune 5/8/17 by Ruth Anne Krause]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“A hearing for a Gary woman alleged to have suffocated her 1-year-old foster child has been rescheduled from Monday to Sept. 11
Jamilia Hodge is charged with murder for the May incident. Her hearing will be in Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell’s courtroom.
Defense attorney T. Edward Page filed the motion on Friday to reschedule the court hearing.
Hodge, 32, also faces charges of aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and several other felonies in connection with the death of Emma Salinas.
Police were dispatched at 11:42 a.m. May 4 to a home in the 7000 block of Ash Avenue in Gary after receiving reports of the child’s death, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Salinas was found dead in a crib in a bedroom at the residence, court records indicate.
An autopsy performed May 5 by the Lake County Coroner’s Office determined the child died as a result of suffocation, complicated by blunt force trauma to the head, the affidavit states.
Hodge initially denied having anything to do with the girl’s death, but then admitted to police she placed a hand over Emma’s mouth and held it there until she stopped breathing, according to the affidavit.
She said she then rolled the girl onto her stomach and left the room. She checked on Emma the next morning, and that is when she found the girl dead in her crib, the affidavit states.
Hodge told police she cared for three other foster children — a 4-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl, court records indicate. She also cared for her 1-year-old daughter.
Hodge is being held at the Lake County Jail without bond.”
New hearing date set for foster mother charged with murder of 1-year-old
[NWI Times 8/22/17 by LuAnn Franklin]
“A foster mother charged with the murder of her 20-month-old foster child will go on trial Feb. 5 in Lake County Criminal Court.
Jamilia Shenese Hodge, 32, faces multiple charges including murder, aggravated battery and neglect of a dependent resulting in death and other felonies, in connection with the death of Emma Salinas. The child was pronounced dead by the Lake County coroner’s office at 12:54 p.m. May 5 at Hodge’s Gary residence.
Gary police were called at 11:42 a.m. to that residence in the … for a report of an unresponsive child, according to police records.
Hodge appeared Monday before Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell in green Lake County Jail garb and shackled. Defense attorney T. Edward Page requested a speedy trial during prior court proceedings.
The defendant is being held without bail in the Lake County Jail. Her next court appearance is Dec. 11 with the pretrial conference set for Jan. 9.”
Jamilia Hodge’s trial for murder of foster child set for February 2018
[NWI Times 10/30/17 by LuAnn Franklin]
Update 2:“A mother has filed a lawsuit seeking damages after her 1-year-old daughter was allegedly smothered to death last May by her foster mother, who is facing murder charges.
Angela Salinas, mother of Emma Salinas, claims in a complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court Jamilia Hodge and Fred Grant were liable for the death of her infant daughter May 4, 2017, at their Gary home.
The mother claims the husband-and-wife foster parents were negligent in caring for her daughter, which resulted in the girl’s death.
The mother now suffered the loss of the love, companionship and services of her daughter. Angela Salinas is seeking $100,000 in damages from the couple.
Grant was reached by telephone Wednesday night. He said he could not immediately comment on the allegations.
Hodge, Grant’s wife, has been charged since May 2017 in Lake Criminal Court with murder on allegations she smothered the girl, who was found dead in a bedroom crib at the couple’s residence in the 7000 block of Ash Avenue in Gary, court records state.
Hodge told police she was paid to care for Emma on behalf of Benchmark Family Services, an Ohio-based company that provides out-of-home placement services for several states, including Indiana.
An autopsy on the girl determined she died of suffocation, complicated by blunt force trauma to the head. Hodge allegedly provided detectives inconsistent statements about what happened before the girl’s death. She allegedly then admitted she placed a hand over Emma’s mouth and held it there until she stopped breathing, records state.
Angela Salinas states in the civil complaint Hodge and Grant told her during a supervised visit May 3, 2017, Emma was sick, but how the girl came to be injured was “unknown to the plaintiff.”
Hodge has pleaded not guilty to the charge. She is scheduled for trial Jan. 14.”
Mother sues foster parents for 1-year-old daughter’s alleged smothering
[NW Indiana Times 10/3/18 by Steve Garrison]
Update 3:” A Lake Criminal Court judge granted a joint request Thursday to delay a trial for a woman charged with murder in the death of her 1-year-old foster child.
Jamilia Hodge, 35, of Gary, has been in custody since May 2017 on charges alleging she smothered her 1-year-old foster child, Emma Salinas, on May 5, 2017, in the****of Ash Avenue in Gary.
Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez said he was surprised to see the defense and prosecutors file a joint motion to continue Hodge’s trial, which had been scheduled for next week.
Hodge’s latest public defender, Joshua Malher, said some issues came up during Hodge’s recent hearings on her motion to suppress her statements to police and her petition to let bail, and more time was needed for discovery.
Lake County Supervisory Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz said she reluctantly agreed to a continuance, because Malher has not yet provided her with information about an expert witness and she needs time to take the expert’s deposition.
Malher said the expert has not yet completed a report. When Malher receives it, he will provide it to Jatkiewicz, he said.
In the motion to suppress, Malher alleged detectives used coercive tactics, including “intense psychological pressure” and “veiled threats,” which resulted in Hodge giving an involuntary statement.
Jatkiewicz said during a hearing Detectives Jeremy Ogden and Ed Gonzalez were confrontational and got loud with Hodge during two separate interviews totaling 14 hours, but nothing they did was so coercive that it would “shock the conscience” or or overcome Hodge’s free will.
Malher accused the detectives of “gaslighting” Hodge “hundreds of times” and repeatedly calling her a liar, until she adopted the story they appeared to be suggesting to her.
He suggested detectives never fully investigated Hodge’s boyfriend and the boyfriend’s brother, who lived with Hodge, Emma and other children.
Hodge eventually admitted in her second interview she smothered Emma by placing her hand over the child’s mouth, but that statement failed to account for blunt force trauma to Emma’s head, Malher said.
Blunt force trauma was listed in an autopsy report as a contributed factor to Emma’s death, according to court records.
Jatkiewicz said Hodge admitted to placing her hand on Emma’s mouth to quiet her down and seeing Emma kicking her legs, which could explain the blunt force trauma.
Jatkiewicz said the detectives gave Hodge water and food, offered her breaks, and allowed her to use the bathroom. She accused Malher of taking some of Ogden’s statements to Hodge out of context.
“It’s a difficult situation to admit to killing another person, let alone a child,” Jatkiewicz said. “Fourteen hours is how long it took Ms. Hodge to admit she did it.”
Vasquez said he planned to talk further with Magistrate Mark Watson, who presided over hearings on the two matters, and issue rulings soon.
After Hodge assured the judge she wanted her trial to be continued, Vasquez granted the request.
Hodge’s trial is now scheduled to begin Aug. 23.[2021]”
Defense says foster mom coerced into saying she smothered child; judge considers motion to suppress
[Northwest Indiana times 4/8/21 by Sarah Reese]
Update 4:“The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction of a Gary woman who admitted that she fatally smothered her 1-year-old foster child in her crib in 2017.
Jamilia Hodge, 37, was sentenced in April [2022] to 50 years in prison, followed by five years on probation in the death of Emma Salinas. The child died in her crib in the bedroom of Hodge’s home in May 2017.
Hodge argued in her appeal that the Lake County trial court erred by allowing statements she made to police during more than 12 hours of interrogation to be admitted as evidence during her trial.
The videotaped interviews showed Hodge confessing that she placed a hand over Salinas’ mouth and smothered her because the child was crying, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
But in Thursday’s ruling affirming Hodge’s conviction the appeals court panel determined that Hodge’s statements to police were acceptable for use at trial because they were not induced by violence, threats or other improper influences that overcame her free will.
The court said Hodge clearly was advised of her constitutional rights to remain silent and to request an attorney, and found that she voluntarily waived those rights by reading aloud and signing a waiver form at the start of both of her interviews with police.
Hodge still can ask the Indiana Supreme Court to consider reviewing her conviction.”
Indiana Court Affirms Conviction in Child Suffocation Death
[US NEWS 1/13/23 by AP]
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