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Family Members Indicted For Death Of 6-Year-Old Jason Hester

By Ny MaGee
Published on: 13:12 PST, Jun 7, 2016

Following a year-long Coconino County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the death of 6-year-old Jason Hester, four people from Northern Arizona have been indicted for his murder, including his aunt and grandmother. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the boy was found unresponsive in the home of his aunt and primary caretaker, Lillian Hester, on June 22, 2015. Attempts to save his life were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead later that day at Flagstaff Medical Center.

Prosecutors say Jason Hester weighed just 29 pounds at the time of his autopsy and showed signs of dehydration and suspicious bruises and abrasions. The official cause of death was undetermined by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports that 37-year-old Lillian Hester was indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse. The victim’s maternal grandmother, 64-year-old Lenda Hester, was also indicted on one count each of negligent homicide and child abuse. Lenda and Lillian’s live-in boyfriends, 61-year-old Kimmy Wilson and 36-year-old Jason Conlee, were also indicted on negligent homicide and child abuse charges. A grand jury indicted all four suspects on May 25.

Check out the video report about the tragic story via the clip below.

AZFamily reports that the child’s biological mother, Shyrl Hester, is the sister of Lillian Hester. She gave custody of Jason to her sister very shortly after he was born. Investigators reached out to the boy’s biological parents, but they declined to be interviewed. Their story is the latest headline-making indictment related to child abuse. In recent news, prosecutors say that an Ohio man “waited 15 hours to call for help despite knowing his wife had placed their 4-year-old son in scalding water,” subsequently causing his death.

A Warren County grand jury indicted Robert Ritchie on charges including involuntary manslaughter and child endangering. Prosecutors say that in March, Anna Ritchie put Austin Cooper in water estimated at 130 degrees for at least 20 minutes as punishment because the child didn’t want to take a bath.

Another recent sensational indictment is that of a Tallahassee man charged with the death of a 10-month-old baby. Dajuan Barnes was indicted for first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse of his girlfriend’s infant son on May 6. The medical examiner said the baby suffered a broken spinal cord and a severed aorta from the result of being “slammed” against an object.

Meanwhile, a Maryland daycare provider was indicted last month for the murder of a baby girl in her care. Forty-three-year-old Beatrice Manning was arrested in connection with the death of nine-month-old Savannah Wright back in December. “There is no crime worse than killing a defenseless child,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said.

“In addition to holding Ms. Manning responsible for her actions, it is our hope that the county’s Child Care Safety Campaign will continue to provide parents with the information and resources they need to ensure that their children are being cared for by licensed providers so we can avoid these terrible circumstances going forward,” she added.

Terry Turner is yet another alleged abuser of children recently indicted for the death of a 15-year-old girl. Police say Turner fled after she was initially charged with second-degree murder for the March 14 shooting death of Vianca Harris, who was pregnant at the time of her death. When a grand jury re-indicted Turner last month she was nowhere to be found, but was later apprehended and remains jailed.

What type of punishment do you think is appropriate for individuals who are indicted for harming children?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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