Sentenced: Lake County, Indiana Woman Accused Of Killed 1YO Foster Child

[Sugar Cookie]

Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez set an April 12 trial date for a woman charged in 2017 Gary child’s murder, rejecting an argument from the woman’s lawyer he needed more time to prepare.

It is Lake County’s second oldest murder case, a prosecutor said.

Jamilia Hodge, 35, was charged in the May 4, 2017, death of Emma Salinas, a 1-year-old foster child in her care at her home, records show.

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 Hodge called 911, according to court records.

Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz said in court Friday she was facing an April 19 deadline under Indiana’s Criminal Rule 4, which is designed to prevent a certain amount of delays before trial while a defendant is in jail. If a trial was further pushed, Hodge would have to be released, she said.

New trial date set for Lake County’s second oldest pending murder case

Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez set an April 12 trial date for a woman charged in 2017 Gary child’s murder, rejecting an argument from the woman’s lawyer he needed more time to prepare. It is Lake County’s second…

www.chicagotribune.com

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.

Police: Foster mom admitted she suffocated toddler

CROWN POINT — The 32-year-old foster mother charged with murder allegedly admitted to police she suffocated her 1-year-old foster child, according to court records.

www.nwitimes.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

 

[Future_Milf]

What an evil bitch.

 

[runninfawn]

she found the baby dead the next morning when she checked on the baby??? no she found the baby dead when she removed her hand from Emma's mouth after Emma had stopped breathing...turning a baby on it's stomach doesn't make them start breathing again moron... And i guess she wanted to make sure Emma was really dead by waiting till morning to check on her and " find" her dead and poor Emma died in her sleep , was that what she was hoping they would really think?? grrrrrrrrrrr evil evil monster.. can't even call her a person grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Sugar Cookie]

From Oct 6, 2018

The boyfriend of a woman charged with murder in her foster daughter's death said Thursday his girlfriend was innocent.

Fred Grant, 40, was named as a defendant in a civil complaint Wednesday with his longtime girlfriend Jamilia Hodge alleging the couple were negligent in caring for Emma Salinas. The lawsuit was filed by Emma's mother, Angela Salinas.

Grant said he believed the confession was falsified or made under duress. He said Hodge, a soft-spoken certified nurse aide with no criminal record, was interrogated for several hours over two days while in police custody.

“Jamilia ain't gonna bust a grape in a food fight,” Grant said. “She wouldn't break a bottle in a vacant lot.”
Grant said he and Hodge tried to conceive a child for 11 years. When their daughter was born in 2015, it was a miracle, but the couple wanted her to have brothers and sisters, so they began foster parenting.

Grant said he believed police were targeting Hodge because of his own history with law enforcement. Grant was previously charged with murder in the Dec. 23, 2005, shooting of Darius Joshua. The case was dismissed in February 2006. Grant also had drug charges dismissed in 2002.

“They don't like me,” he said. “That's the bottom line.”

Man defends girlfriend charged with murder in foster girl's death

CROWN POINT — The boyfriend of a woman charged with murder in her foster daughter's death said Thursday his girlfriend was innocent.

www.nwitimes.com

How and why any agency allowed him to become a foster parent is a problem.

While he may not have been convicted his past is concerning.

 

[Satanica]

Yeah, that's negligent on the part of child services. Really, it's unbelievable. How small is the pool of foster parents that they place one in a home with this thug. Hodge is shit, too, if, all of a sudden, she can smother a child to death. I don't think that just comes out of nowhere. Maybe she had been around Grant too long.

 

[Sejanus]

Cold cunt.
Her choice of penis is lacking too.

 

[Mountaineer95]

A bit OT to this case, but this:

“It is Lake County’s second oldest murder case, a prosecutor said.”

...sounds made-up. I guess he’s not counting any cold cases/unsolved murders at ALL. Just those on the docket? I mean, Gary is in Lake County. No way there aren’t older murder cases (pre-2017) in Gary alone, not including the rest of the county.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Lake Criminal Court jury listened to a defense expert's testimony Friday about false confessions but ultimately convicted a Gary woman of murdering her 1-year-old foster child in 2017.

Jamilia Hodge, 36, admitted in an interview with detectives in May 2017 she put her hand over 1-year-old Emma Salinas' mouth and smothered her because she was crying.

Lake County Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz asked the jury to consider how Hodge behaved after making the confession toward the end of an interrogation that spanned 12 hours over two days.

"She stops talking to herself. She stops trying to convince herself," Jatkiewicz said. "She's finally come clean."

In a video of the interview, former Hobart Detective Sgt. Jeremy Ogden asked Hodge what he should tell Emma's mother.

"That I'm sorry that I let her down," Hodge said. "That I didn't mean it. It just happened."

After deliberating for less than three hours, the jury found Hodge guilty of murder, aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery resulting in death of a person younger than 14 years old.

The possible penalty for murder is 45 to 65 years. Hodge already has served nearly five years in jail while awaiting trial. She must serve 75% of any sentence imposed by Judge Salvador Vasquez.

Jatkiewicz told the jury Emma didn't just die, she was murdered.

A forensic pathologist with the Lake County coroner's office testified Emma died from asphyxiation and also suffered blunt force trauma to her head, which caused a dislocation of the atlanto-occipital joint at the base of her skull.

Jatkiewicz said Hodge sounded relatively calm when she called 911 because she already had some time to process what she'd done to Emma.

"She didn't believe she had the capacity to kill baby Emma," the deputy prosecutor said. "No one wants to believe that someone would intentionally kill a child."

Jatkiewicz said no responsible parent would put a baby down to sleep at 9:30 p.m. and not check on her again until 5 a.m. During that time, Hodge admitted she got a sippy cup for her own daughter but didn't give Emma anything to drink.

In her videotaped interview with police, Hodge repeatedly referred to Emma as "the damn baby."

"Who says that?" Jatikiewicz said. "Unless they're trying to distance themselves from that act."

The deputy prosecutor reminded the jury the defense expert also testified that just because police use certain tactics doesn't necessarily mean a confession is false.

"Baby Emma was placed in her care," Jatkiewicz said. "She had a duty to protect Emma, but she failed."
Hodge may be sorry, but Emma is dead and Hodge must be held accountable, she said.

Woman guilty of murdering her 1-year-old foster child

A deputy prosecutor asked the jury to consider how Jamilia Hodge behaved after making a confession toward the end of a police interrogation that spanned 12 hours over two days.

www.nwitimes.com

She called Emma the "Damn Baby" because she is a monster and the mom needs to tell her to shove her damn apology.

 

[GoneWest]

“Jatkiewicz said no responsible parent would put a baby down to sleep at 9:30 p.m. and not check on her again until 5 a.m.”

Have to say I don’t agree with this statement. I mean suffocating her was the problem and checking on her wasn’t going to change that outcome.

 

[Mountaineer95]

“It is Lake County’s second oldest murder case” per the prosecutor. A 2017 case is the second oldest cold case in that entire fucking county? No. Way. In. Hell.

Do they even know where they are? No way in hell that Gary (or any other part of Lake County IN) doesn’t have a cold case from prior to 2017. At the very least, there are missing persons cases that are likely homicides.

For example, this young lady and her nephew disappeared from Gary in 2015. She was not equipped to live on her own, on the streets, let alone with her little nephew. The odds are that they are no longer alive. But hey, no bodies mean they don’t count in the “cold case murder” file per Lake County.

Diamond Daisy Bobbie Monet Bynum – The Charley Project

And this case:

Benita Elizabeth Moore Spears – The Charley Project

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Lake Criminal Court judge sentenced a Gary woman Wednesday to 50 years in prison and five on probation for the murder of her 1-year-old foster child in 2017.

Jamilia Hodge, 37, was convicted in March by a jury after a weeklong trial where Lake County prosecutors presented videos of detectives' interviews, which showed Hodge admitted she placed a hand over baby Emma Salinas' mouth and smothered her because she was crying.

Judge Salvador Vasquez said the case was difficult, in part, because Hodge had no contacts with law enforcement before her arrest in the murder case.

Before Hodge began caring for Emma and her three siblings in October 2016, she had cared for another group of siblings who were successfully reunited with their family, the judge said.

There were no indications that any of the other children placed in Hodge's care were injured, and there was no pattern of conduct to suggest Hodge might harm Emma, Vasquez said.

"Something went horribly wrong, and as a result of that an 18-month-old child died," the judge said. "This will have a lasting impact on those involved, including Emma's mother, her siblings and law enforcement."

Defense attorney Scott King said he advised Hodge not to give a statement and asked Vasquez to grant Hodge's request to appoint an appellate public defender.

Evidence presented at trial did not explain "how an injury of this magnitude was inflicted" on Emma, King said.

Emma suffered a fracture to her cervical spine and had a mark on her face, indicating she had been suffocated.

Whether Hodge's statements to police were voluntary will be a "major issue on appeal," he said. In a 2021 ruling, the court denied Hodge's motion to suppress her statements.

"We have to, as professionals, honor and respect the verdict," King said, even if he personally disagreed that the evidence presented at trial met the standard for prosecution.

King said Hodge continued to pursue an education after high school and was supporting her own daughter, her boyfriend, his adult relative and the foster children in her car at the time of Emma's death.
The defense attorney recommended Vasquez give Hodge a minimum sentence of 45 years.

Jatkiewicz asked for a sentence of 60 years because of Emma's young age and the position of trust Hodge held for the child.

Vasquez said Hodge's lack of criminal history and relationship with her own now-6-year-old daughter warranted a shorter sentence, but he agreed with Jatkiewicz that Emma's age and Hodge's role as caregiver were aggravating factors.

"Ms. Hodge received a fair trial, a very proper trial," the judge said.

Vasquez said Hodge likely would be released from prison in her 60s and would be on parole for life. He granted her request to appoint an appellate public defender.

Woman gets 55 years in prison for murder of 1-year-old foster child

The woman maintained her innocence and declined to make a statement at sentencing. The child's mother said she hopes the system never will allow another foster child to die at

www.nwitimes.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Indiana court affirms conviction in child suffocation death

 

[runninfawn]

read of this case first time today and noticed this ,, the b/f said "When their daughter was born in 2015, it was a miracle, but the couple wanted her to have brothers and sisters, so they began foster parenting" and in an update this "King said Hodge continued to pursue an education after high school and was supporting her own daughter, her boyfriend, his adult relative and the foster children in her care at the time of Emma's death"...this seems to me that the money was the important part of fostering and not the wanting to have sibs for your own child.... and yea succesfully fostered another group of sibs re-united with parents later but doesn't say age of the kids... big dif if you foster 10, 8 and 6 years old sibs when you have a wee one of your own than fostering kids with the youngest one being a wee one of about same age as your own baby..

 

[GoneWest]

I

read of this case first time today and noticed this ,, the b/f said "When their daughter was born in 2015, it was a miracle, but the couple wanted her to have brothers and sisters, so they began foster parenting" and in an update this "King said Hodge continued to pursue an education after high school and was supporting her own daughter, her boyfriend, his adult relative and the foster children in her care at the time of Emma's death"...this seems to me that the money was the important part of fostering and not the wanting to have sibs for your own child.... and yea succesfully fostered another group of sibs re-united with parents later but doesn't say age of the kids... big dif if you foster 10, 8 and 6 years old sibs when you have a wee one of your own than fostering kids with the youngest one being a wee one of about same age as your own baby..

I was thinking the exact thing. Why the fuck was she “supporting” her loser boyfriend and HIS adult relative? She was hardly supporting the foster kids, seems more likely they were supporting this entire trio of worthless shits. Did she have an actual job? If so who took care of the kids while she worked?
Ace placement CPS.