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1 month ago
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Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a Pennsylvania couple accused of starving and beating their 12-year-old daughter to death in a 'yearslong pattern of extensive torture and abuse.'
Malinda Hoagland weighed just 50 pounds and had 'numerous injuries all over her body,' when she died within hours of being admitted to the Paoli Hospital Trauma Unit in May this year.
Father Rendell Hoagland, 52, and stepmother Cindy Warren, 45, were charged with first degree murder after investigators found videos in their West Caln home revealing their 'systematic method of terrorizing, manipulating, and dehumanizing Malinda'.
Warren has already served time for child abuse after her two-year-old stepdaughter was beaten to death by a former partner in 2000, and Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said that only the ultimate penalty would deliver justice for Malinda.
'I can stand here before you and say that we intend to pursue the death penalty in this case,' he told a press conference.
Malinda was found after Hoagland called 911 claiming his daughter hit a tree while riding her bicycle and lost consciousness
Father Rendell Hoagland and stepmother Cindy Warren are each charged with first, second and third-degree murder, and involuntary servitude
Malinda was found 'barely alive' by police on May 4 after her Hoagland called 911, claiming she had crashed her bicycle into a tree.
Medics at the hospital were shocked by her condition, which included heavy bruising, half a dozen broken bones and liver damage.
An autopsy discovered more than 75 individually identifiable 'bruises, contusions, ulcers, and pressure sores', on her body, and concluded that her death was caused by 'starvation and multiple blunt force injuries'.
DailyMail.com reviewed the couple's social media and previously revealed that Malinda disappeared from her Hoagland's Facebook in early January, while the couple continued posting images of Warren's nine-year-old Gavin, who police say was not abused.
In the last images he posted of his daughter, she looks gaunt as she shows off what appear to be Christmas gifts. In one image, her hand appears bruised.
Investigators claim the couple scrambled to delete videos and text messages in the hours before her death.
But they still managed to recover 'hundreds of videos and still images on the defendants' cellphones and Blink Security Cameras,' after securing a search warrant.
They reportedly show Hoagland and Warren cuffing Malinda's ankles to furniture, forcing her to sleep chained on the floor with no pillow or blankets, and telling her not to expect breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The obese couple would allegedly force the little girl to do 'endless amounts' of strenuous exercises while shackled as punishment for 'perceived slights'.
Those 'slights' included stealing food, not smiling during school sessions over Zoom, or wetting herself while cuffed to furniture.
In the last images Hoagland posted, Malinda looks gaunt as she shows off what appear to be Christmas gifts. In one image, her hand appears bruised
Hoagland used to often post about his daughter, but completely stopped in January
They would watch her over the video surveillance system and bark out commands and reprimands through the speaker system while the girl was chained and alone in the basement.
Malinda had attended North Brandywine Middle School until December 2023 when she was withdrawn by her parents and enrolled in solely online lessons, and she would remain chained underneath her desk out of view of the camera.
Warren previously served time in prison after cutting a deal with prosecutors that saw her testify against her ex-husband McKinley Warren Jr. for the murder of his two-year-old daughter Jessica Bock.
Jessica died in 2000 in eerily similar circumstances to Malinda - after the Warrens took her to the hospital and claimed she had fallen out of a parked car and hit her head, as reported by the Pocono Record.
The toddler was killed after Warren refused to change her diaper because 'she had painted her nails.' Instead, Warren called McKinley, who had been drinking at a bar, to come home and change the toddler's diaper, which is when he fatally injured Jessica.
In her 2009 deal with prosecutors, Warren pleaded guilty to allowing her ex-husband to beat their then three-year-old son Isaiah. She was sentenced to three to seven years in prison.
Warren was not charged in Jessica's murder, but Capt. William Parrish said that she was also partly to blame for Jessica's death.
'At any time, she could have identified her husband as the one who caused her stepdaughter's death and abused her son, but she refused to do so,' Parrish said at the time.
Warren pleaded guilty in 2009 to allowing her ex-husband to beat their then three-year-old son Isaiah, and was sentenced to three to seven years in prison. She's pictured the same year
Police said Warren was partly to blame for the 2000 death her stepdaughter Jessica, two, at the hands of her former partner McKinley Warren Jr
'Instead, she lied with her husband about how Jessica got hurt and left it to a neighbor to report Isaiah's abuse.
'Whenever neighbors complained about her and her husband being drunk, loud and boisterous and we responded to their home, she would be the one who remained loud and disorderly while her husband calmed down, so she would be the one taken away.'
Warren's ex-husband McKinley Warren Jr. is serving 25 to 50 years for abusing Isaiah and for Jessica's murder.
Police said the Warrens' son Isaiah looked 'like a prizefighter who had been through a title bout' when they found him in January 2007 after a neighbor called authorities.
Isaiah's three older full siblings had been placed in foster care soon after their birth due to the investigation into Jessica's 2000 death, but McKinley was not charged until 2007, when Isaiah was found by authorities and his wife agreed to testify against him.
Malinda's former classmates at North Brandywine Middle School honored her memory by decorating her locker as news of her death emerged.
Coatesville Area School District superintendent Catherine Van Vooren issued a statement saying school officials had previously spoken up about signs of abuse shown by Malinda.
'Twelve-year-old Malinda Hoagland was enrolled in our school district from spring 2022 through December 2023 when her family withdrew her from North Brandywine Middle School and enrolled her in another cyber charter school,' she wrote.
'Our staff diligently reported concerns about her welfare to the state agency that receives and manages concerns. Shortly thereafter, she was withdrawn from our schools.
'Her younger brother remained a student at King's Highway. He is now in protective custody and is expected to be relocated to another county and school district.
'This news shakes our entire school community, and we are deeply saddened and upset by the horrific details of the abuse this child suffered.
The couple were arrested on May 6 and are currently being held at Chester County Prison without bail.
They face other charges including second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and involuntary servitude.
Hoagland almost exclusively posted images of son Gavin on Facebook, and only once shared an image of Malinda - in December of 2020
The last images he shared of Malinda was posted on January 5, as she appeared to be opening Christmas presents with Gavin
The home where Malinda was allegedly tortured for months is pictured above
'This incredibly resilient young girl, her body could not take it anymore. She began to shut down, early morning hours of May 4. And the defendants denied her medical care,' Barrena-Sarobe said.
Information from the Coroner's Office and medical experts demonstrates a yearslong pattern of extensive torture and abuse.
'Moreover, text messages and hundreds of videos show that the defendants engaged in a calculated and systematic method of terrorizing, manipulating, and dehumanizing Malinda.
'We will get justice for Malinda.'
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