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Thread: Robert Hodges Gets Life Sentence in 2017 CA Murders of His Three Children

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Robert Hodges Gets Life Sentence in 2017 CA Murders of His Three Children


    Kelvin Hodges, 11 years old, Julie Hodges, 9 years old, and Lucas Hodges, 8 months old




    Police: Domestic violence leaves 3 Sacramento kids dead

    By Associated Press

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Police say they’ve arrested a man in connection with the deaths of three children found in a California apartment after a domestic violence incident.

    KCRA-TV (http://bit.ly/2x19iSz) reports California Highway Patrol officers arrested the suspect on Interstate 80 in Sacramento at around midnight Thursday. West Sacramento police Sgt. Roger Kinney identified the man as 33-year-old Robert Hodges, who was married to the children’s mother.

    The children died at a West Sacramento apartment after 9 p.m. PDT Wednesday. Police have not revealed how the children were killed. Police and first responders tried life-saving measures on the children but all three were pronounced dead at the scene.

    Kinney said the mother witnessed the killings, and that she, too, was a victim of domestic violence. Police have not determined if Hodges was the children’s father.

    http://wtop.com/national/2017/09/pol...nto-kids-dead/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Robert Hodges: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

    It’s an unthinkable crime: Police in West Sacramento are accusing a 33-year-old father, Robert Hodges, of murdering his three young children – all 11 and under – inside the family’s apartment.

    Hodges’ wife, Mai Sheng Hodges – who fled the apartment in distress – had filled her Facebook page with now heartbreaking photos of the family and the children, including Mother’s Day notes from her daughter and pictures of the oldest children in Halloween costumes. In one photo, Robert and Mai Hodges and two of their children pose with a chalkboard that reads “family.”


    The suspect is also known as Robert William Hodges. The children and their mother had not yet been officially identified on September 14, and their ages were not released yet by authorities. However, records and family members confirmed the mother’s name to the news media as Mai Sheng Hodges, and The Sacramento Bee reported the children may have been smothered.

    CBS Local labeled
    the homicides a “domestic violence” incident. ABC News gave the children’s ages as 11, 9, and an infant.


    Here’s what you need to know:


    1. A Relative Said Everything in the Family Seemed ‘OK’ Before the Triple Murder

    According to KCRA-TV, police confirmed that Hodges was married to the children’s mother but were not certain at first whether he was their father. However, CBS Local later reported that police believe Hodges was the children’s father.

    A relative said they were married for “more than a dozen years” and added, “We don’t understand what happened, we really don’t. Everything appeared to be OK,” according to ABC News.


    She was pregnant with her third child in November 2016, according to photos posted on Facebook.

    2. Hodges Went on the Run But Was Captured by Police

    The children were slain inside the family’s apartment around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 13. Hodges was on the run, but he “was arrested hours later near I-80 in Sacramento,” according to KCRA.

    “A California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over near Interstate 80 and West El Camino Avenue,” reported The Sacramento Bee.

    3. Police Received a 911 Call About Domestic Violence Occurring Inside the Apartment & Found Mai Hysterical Outside

    Someone – it’s not clear whether it was the mother – managed to dial 911 from inside the apartment, but, by the time police arrived, it was too late for the children.

    “The initial 911 call came in as a domestic violence incident, and as police were on the way to the apartment, someone called 911 again to report the children were possibly dead,” according to KCRA.

    Police found a hysterical Mai outside the apartment, and she begged them to go inside, according to Sacramento Bee. At first, police had said that Mai witnessed the murders, but now they say she was nearby outside.

    4. Neighbors Say the Children May Have Been Smothered But Police Have Not Confirmed That

    Authorities have not released any details yet of how the murders unfolded or what weapon was used to kill the children. According to The Sacramento Bee, “neighbors say Robert Hodges, 32, choked his wife until she ran out of their second-floor apartment, then smothered the children inside the home.”

    5. Police Tried to Save the Children But It was Too Late

    Police did everything they could to save the lives of the children, but it was too late.

    “Officers arrived and began life-saving measures, which were continued by firefighters when they arrived. The children were declared dead shortly after,” The Sacramento Bee reported.


    Hodges did not have a significant criminal history and a neighbor said he seemed like a good father before the slayings, according to the newspaper.

    http://heavy.com/news/2017/09/robert-hodges-west-sacramento-children-killed-murdered-william-mother-photo/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Edited:

    The Latest: IDs of 3 children killed in California confirmed

    By Associated Press

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Latest on three children killed inside an apartment in Northern California (all times local):

    The Yolo County coroner's office is identifying the three children authorities say were slain by their father in their California apartment.

    Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya said Thursday that they are 11-year-old Kelvin Hodges, 9-year-old Julie Hodges and Lucas Hodges, who was born in January and was nearly eight months old.

    Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven says their father, 33-year-old Robert Hodges, is being held without bail for a court appearance Monday. He says charges are likely to be announced that morning.

    He has not heard that Hodges has an attorney.

    West Sacramento police Sgt. Roger Kinney says Hodges killed the children following an altercation with his wife.

    Thunder Valley Casino northeast of Sacramento confirms that the mother is Mai Hodges, who works as a cashier.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/14...-children.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    The Latest: Hearing next week for father in 3 kids’ deaths

    By The Associated Press

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on three children killed inside an apartment in Northern California (all times local):

    The Yolo County coroner’s office is identifying the three children authorities say were slain by their father in their California apartment.

    Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya said Thursday that they are 11-year-old Kelvin Hodges, 9-year-old Julie Hodges and Lucas Hodges, who was born in January and was nearly eight months old.

    Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven says their father, 33-year-old Robert Hodges, is being held without bail for a court appearance Monday. He says charges are likely to be announced that morning.

    He has not heard that Hodges has an attorney.

    West Sacramento police Sgt. Roger Kinney says Hodges killed the children following an altercation with his wife.

    Thunder Valley Casino northeast of Sacramento confirms that the mother is Mai Hodges, who works as a cashier.

    https://federalnewsradio.com/u-s-new...rnia-children/

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    West Sacramento mother of slain children makes emotional Facebook post

    By KCRA News Staff

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — The mother of three children who were killed Wednesday night in their West Sacramento home said she’s thankful for the community support and is trying to live “through each day” in an emotional Facebook post.

    The triple-homicide
    happened sometime after 9 p.m. at the Timbers Apartments on Touchstone Place. The three children were identified by the Yolo County Coroner's Office as Kelvin Hodges, 11, Julie Hodges, 9, and Lucas Hodges, 7 months old.

    Robert Hodges, 32, of West Sacramento, was taken into custody at about midnight Thursday by California Highway Patrol officers off Interstate 80 and West El Camino Avenue, West Sacramento police Sgt. Roger Kinney said.

    Hodges, who is the children's father, was detained without incident, police said.

    Thank you everyone for all your loves and support. It mean so much to me and my 3 children's. As for now I would like some quiet and privacy as I try to live through each day without my precious, loving children's.


    There's many stories out there that aren't true of what happen. I still can't get the picture out of my head. For those that know Robbie know he was once a loving and caring husband and father to our children. I was never in abusive marriage, he had always been a caring and loving person, but for whatever reason went thru his mind, heart to do this I can never imagine why. And I ask myself everyday "why?".


    "Heavenly Father, please hold my 3 babies into your home where they are warm, love and care forever. I know someday we will cross again. Until that day please know I love, miss, care and think of them everyday and night." Amen.


    http://www.kcra.com/article/west-sac...-post/12253882
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Yolo DA laments increase in child homicides

    By Lauren Keene
    The Davis Enterprise

    The deaths last week of three young West Sacramento siblings was the latest incident in what local prosecutors see as an uptick in violent child fatalities to occur in Yolo County and beyond in recent years.

    “There have been more. It’s been just this tragic explosion of these killings,” said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, whose office has obtained convictions in three other high-profile cases involving slain children since 2014.

    Now, prosecutors are considering which charges to file in this latest child-death case, in which 32-year-old Robert William Hodges stands accused of killing his own children: Kelvin, 11; Julie, 9; and Lucas, 7 months.

    “This one is the most horrific, and I don’t think it’s isolated to Yolo County,” Reisig added, noting that nearby Sacramento County also has experienced a recent rash of child homicides, many of them stemming from abusive relationships that escalated “to the ultimate act of violence.”

    “Why is that?” said Reisig, who offered an answer to that question. “Domestic violence under California law is not treated as a violent felony. That’s a real disservice to victims of domestic violence, and I think it needs to be fixed. We need to treat it for what it is — a violent crime against an intimate partner.”

    Stronger laws, Reisig said, would help keep abusers behind bars by making domestic violence a strike offense under California’s “three strikes” statute, increasing bail amounts and restricting the credits for time served that a suspect receives while in custody.

    Authorities have not disclosed details about a motive in the West Sacramento killings, which were discovered Wednesday night by police officers responding to a domestic-violence report involving Hodges’ wife, Mai Sheng Hodges, at their Touchstone Place apartment.

    A neighbor told The Davis Enterprise that Robert Hodges assaulted his wife when she arrived home from work, and that she later discovered the bodies of her children inside the apartment.

    Asked whether his agency had responded to prior domestic-violence incidents at the Hodges residence, West Sacramento police Sgt. Roger Kinney said that information would not be released in light of the pending homicide case.

    But Mai Hodges denied the couple’s marriage was an abusive one, according to KCRA Channel 3, which reported Friday on a message the grieving mother posted on Facebook, then apparently later took down.

    According to the report, Mai Hodges described her husband as “once a loving and caring husband and father to our children.”

    “I was never in abusive marriage, he had always been a caring and loving person, but for whatever reason went thru his mind, heart to do this I can never imagine why. And I ask myself everyday ‘why?’ ”

    Mai Hodges’ post also requested quiet and privacy “as I try to live through each day without my precious, loving children.”

    Autopsies on the victims were completed Friday, but their cause of death has not been released pending further testing and investigation, Yolo County Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya said.

    The District Attorney’s Office plans to hold a news conference Monday morning to announce the charges being filed against Hodges, who is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. that day in Yolo Superior Court.

    Prosecutors had yet to receive any police reports about the case as of Friday afternoon, and a charging decision likely would be made over the weekend, Reisig said.

    Yolo County Public Defender Tracie Olson said her office expects to represent Hodges, and that Deputy Public Defender Ron Johnson has been assigned the case. She declined further comment.

    Hodges remains in Yolo County Jail custody on a no-bail hold. He has declined requests for media interviews.

    Also to be determined is whether prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against Hodges. Multiple murders is one of 15 special-circumstance crimes that expose California murder defendants to capital punishment or, alternatively, life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    In the county’s most recent child-fatality cases, Yolo County prosecutors have obtained convictions for murder and assault on a child causing death. The defendants have been two mothers and a mother’s live-in boyfriend.

    The oldest victim was 5, the youngest just 19 days old.

    They include:

    • Tatiana Garcia, 5, whose mother Aquelin Talamantes drowned the girl in the bathtub of her sister’s home on Glide Drive in South Davis on Sept. 26, 2013, then drove to a relative’s apartment in Sacramento with the girl’s body in the trunk of her car.

    Talamantes raised an insanity defense, claiming that mental illness led her to believe she was saving her daughter from harm by police. But a Yolo County jury rejected that argument, finding the 29-year-old mother guilty of first-degree murder and child assault.

    • Cameron Morrison, age 20 months, who died Jan. 15, 2014, of traumatic brain and internal injuries sustained during repeated beatings that prosecutors said were inflicted by his mother’s boyfriend, Darnell D’Angelo Dorsey, at the family’s Olive Drive trailer in Davis.

    Dorsey’s lawyers contended that a severe case of pneumonia caused Cameron to stop breathing and triggered the toddler’s injuries, but that explanation didn’t add up for the jury, which convicted Dorsey of assault on a child causing death.

    • Justice Rees, who died of exposure at just 19 days of age after his mother, Samantha Green, swam with him across Ridge Cut Slough in Knights Landing and kept him outdoors overnight while under the influence of methamphetamine on Feb. 24, 2015.

    The DA’s Office successfully prosecuted Green for second-degree murder and next month will try the baby’s father, Frank Rees, for involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Prosecutors allege the Woodland man facilitated Green’s drug use despite knowing Justice was born with drugs in his system and that social workers ordered Green to seek treatment for her addiction in order to maintain custody of the baby.

    http://www.davisenterprise.com/local...ild-homicides/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Dad accused of murdering his children used belt in 2 killings, prosecutors say

    By Don Thompson
    WESH 2 News

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Prosecutors charged a father Monday with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his children, saying a belt was used in two of the killings.

    Prosecutors filed the charges against 32-year-old Robert William Hodges in the deaths of 11-year-old Kelvin Hodges, 9-year-old Julie Hodges and Lucas Hodges, nearly eight months.

    Hodges pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance.

    Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said the two older children were killed with a belt but would not say how it was used or give other details, including a motive.

    The charging documents don't say how the infant was killed.

    Prosecutors also charged Hodges with the attempted murder of his wife, Mai Hodges, after she called police Wednesday to report she had been assaulted.

    Arriving officers found the three children dead and Robert Hodges missing; he was arrested hours later.

    Authorities said Monday that Hodges was ordered held without bail for an Oct. 2 court appearance.

    Deputy public defender Ron Johnson, who represented Hodges in court, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.

    Hodges faces three special circumstance allegations that could bring the death penalty if he is convicted — two of lying in wait plus multiple murders.

    "We have not yet determined if we intend to seek the death penalty," Reisig said at a news conference. The decision is months away after prosecutors weigh the circumstances of the case.

    The prosecutor also said the facts of the crime would not be released to ensure that Hodges receives a fair trial.

    Police have said Mai Hodges did not witness the slayings.

    Relatives and neighbors have said there were no apparent problems or abuse in the marriage. Police said they had no history of calls to the family's apartment, and Robert Hodges had no significant criminal record.

    http://www.wesh.com/article/dad-accu...s-say/12270954
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    YOLO county.......how ironic.
    “Ninety-nine percent have made peace with their God. Their victims didn’t have that choice.”

    “You're not entitled to a pain-free execution.”

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Witnesses set to testify in case of father who allegedly killed his 3 children, choked wife

    By Anita Chabria
    Sacramento Bee

    Robert William Hodges, the father who allegedly killed his three children in September after choking his wife, appeared in court Monday where a judge set a date for a preliminary hearing in the triple homicide.

    Hodges, 32, appeared unshaven and with disheveled hair in front of Judge David Rosenberg in Yolo Superior Court. He did not speak during a brief morning hearing that lasted about five minutes, but Rosenberg set a return date for Oct. 20 at 9 a.m., when the prosecution will present witnesses.

    Prosecution attorneys said they expected testimony for that hearing to last about half a day.

    Hodges previously pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Kelvin Hodges, 11, Julia Hodges, 9, and Lucas Hodges, 7 months. He also faces one count of attempted murder for the alleged assault on his wife, Mai Sheng Hodges, and three “special circumstance” charge enhancements for lying in wait and committing multiple murders.

    The charge enhancements make the death penalty a possibility in the case, but Yolo County prosecutors have not said whether they would seek capital punishment.

    Yolo Deputy District Attorney Deanna Hayes told the judge that Mai Sheng Hodges was invoking victims’ rights under the California Constitution to refuse to be interviewed by the defense.

    Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, who was also in court Monday, previously described the crimes as “willful, deliberate and premeditated,” during a press conference days after the killings. Reisig said the two older siblings had been killed with a belt but did not say how the infant was killed.

    “I just cannot express how much pain we are in,” Xai T Vang, who identified herself on social media as the children’s aunt, wrote on Facebook on Sept. 29. “Still in disbelief this is really happening.”

    A Go Fund Me campaign for Mai Sheng Hodges had raised nearly $35,000 by Monday morning and a separate account has been opened for funeral expenses at Bank of America, according to social media posts by Vang. A funeral for the children is planned for Oct. 7.

    Hodges was arrested hours after the alleged murders occurred after California Highway Patrol officers spotted his car near Interstate 80 and West El Camino Avenue. Police had earlier been alerted to the triple homicide after receiving 911 calls about a domestic violence incident. Neighbors said Hodges choked his wife until she ran out of their second-floor apartment, and killed the children in the home.

    Taking to social media after her husband’s arrest, Sheng Hodges said on Facebook that he had been a loving father and there was no history of domestic abuse, KCRA reported. Other than the social media post, which was quickly made private, neither Robert Hodges or Mai Sheng Hodges have spoken publicly about what happened.

    Hodges remains in Yolo County jail without bail.

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/art...#storylink=cpy

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    Judge rules West Sacramento father accused of murdering his three children will face trial

    By Darrell Smith
    Sacramento Bee

    Robert Hodges will face trial in the murders of his three children and the attempted killing of his wife, a Yolo Superior Court Judge ruled Friday after nearly an hour of harrowing testimony about the deaths. His arraignment is set for Nov. 3.

    According to West Sacramento police Det. Eric Palmer, who testified at Friday’s preliminary hearing, Hodges, 32, told authorities he was deep in financial crisis when he killed his children over a series of hours in their West Sacramento apartment. Palmer, who interviewed Hodges after the September killings, said Hodges told police he suffocated his infant son before using a belt to choke the life out of his two older children.

    Between the deaths, Palmer said Hodges told him he took breaks on his portable tablet as he summoned his physical and mental strength to continue the killings and plan his wife’s demise.

    Hodges previously pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Kelvin Hodges, 11, Julia Hodges, 9, and Lucas Hodges, 7 months. He also faces one count of attempted murder for the alleged assault on his wife, Mai Sheng Hodges, and three “special circumstance” charge enhancements for lying in wait and committing multiple murders.

    The charge enhancements make the death penalty a possibility in the case, but Yolo County prosecutors have not said whether they would seek capital punishment.

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/cri...179995926.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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