TX - Phoenix Ho, 7, dies of Child abuse, Denton, Apr 2022 *arrests*

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tlcya said:
sadly I can't read anything at that news site as I do not have a subscription and their stories will not load for me
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Witnesses testify ahead of trial for Denton mother accused in 7-year-old son’s murder​


Denton County Courts Building entrance

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Denton County Courts Building
Brooke Colombo/DRC



In a pretrial hearing Thursday for Sabrina Ho, who is charged with capital murder in her 7-year-old son’s death, first responders and others testified to Ho’s initial statements about the suspicious death.
The purpose of Thursday’s hearing was to determine whether statements Ho made about her son Phoenix’s injuries to law enforcement and others at the scene are admissible in court.
362nd District Judge Lee Ann Breading ultimately ruled that they were admissible.

The jury will be selected Monday, and the witnesses who testified during Thursday’s hearing will give similar testimony in front of the jury next week.

Along with capital murder, Ho is also on trial on six counts of injury to a child. Her boyfriend, Todd Lofton Shaw, was sentenced to life in prison in 2023 after he pleaded guilty to murdering Phoenix.

Early investigation​

Following a 911 call at about 7:30 p.m. on April 1, 2022, Denton first responders were dispatched to a report of an unconscious child in the 1600 block of East McKinney Street.
Denton firefighters/paramedics were the first to arrive at the scene. One of them, Michael Conaway, was the first to make contact with Shaw and Ho.
Conaway testified that on other calls, parents usually meet medics outside the residence to hand off the injured child. But when he arrived, no one was there.
After he located the apartment, Shaw opened the door and brought Conaway to Phoenix. When Conaway asked what happened, Conaway testified that Shaw told him they thought Phoenix aspirated on some chocolate. Conaway said it was odd to hear someone use the word aspirate.
Conaway said Ho told him she thought Phoenix choked on some chocolate.
About 30 to 45 seconds after he entered, Conaway said Thursday, he scooped up Phoenix and ran outside to transport him to Medical City Denton. He testified that while in the apartment, he could tell the boy was dead and he thought abuse might be involved because Phoenix was discolored and had lesions.
An affidavit states that Phoenix had extensive injuries to his face, forehead, eyes, neck, shoulders, inner and outer thighs, knees and genitals.
Denton police officer Shawna Glick arrived at the scene as Conaway was running to the ambulance carrying Phoenix. She said that one of the medics immediately informed her that they believed something was suspicious.

Sgt. Eric Beckwith arrived a few minutes later and separated Ho and Shaw for interviews.
Beckwith said Ho was not under arrest or in custody, and he wouldn’t have stopped her if she tried to leave. He intended to go to the hospital with Ho if she wanted, Beckwith testified Thursday.
While waiting for a special victims unit detective to arrive, Beckwith said, Ho made a few statements to him that he found suspicious. He testified that she told him Phoenix had not been to school in a couple of weeks.
Beckwith also testified that Ho said Phoenix had been “picking at his privates” and urinating all over. He testified that Ho said she had been bandaging him but didn’t take him to a doctor because she didn’t want a doctor to think she had done something to him.

Phoenix was pronounced dead while law enforcement was still at the apartment complex. Shaw was arrested not long after. Thursday’s hearing did not go into initial interviews with him.
SVU Detective Scott Salazar arrived and further interviewed Ho. His testimony Thursday did not expand much on the interview, but he testified that he did not have probable cause to arrest Ho at the scene.
Law enforcement released Ho from the scene but informed her she would need to leave for some time as they executed a search warrant on the apartment.
Officers testified that Ho told them she would stay with a friend and went to sit in her van.
At 3:30 a.m., about six hours after the 911 call, William House was dispatched to the apartment. House is a special investigator for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

When House arrived, he testified Thursday, he found Ho asleep in her van outside the apartment. He said he knocked on the window until she woke up.
House’s testimony about the content of his interview with Ho was limited, as Breading said it went beyond the scope of Thursday’s hearing.
But House did testify that Ho told him she hadn’t taken Phoenix to the hospital for continuous injuries before his death or the night of his death.
House also testified that Ho said she noticed Shaw had bruised Phoenix’s face a couple of days prior to his death and injured Phoenix’s genitals about three weeks prior.
Ho also said she asked Phoenix about the facial injuries, and Phoenix only told her that he had been bad, House testified. When Ho asked Shaw about it, Ho said Shaw told her she wouldn’t want to see what all he did to the boy, House testified.
In the days following Phoenix’s death, Salazar asked Ho to come to the Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas for a follow-up interview. After the interview, Salazar reviewed the evidence in the case and determined that he had probable cause for Ho’s arrest. She was arrested April 5.
Ho has remained in the Denton County Jail since her arrest.

What’s to come​

Ho’s case goes to trial next week. It is expected to last for about two weeks because of the extensive amount of evidence to present and because the court will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15.
Between investigators, medical professionals, Denton ISD employees and those who know Ho, the court expects more than 50 witnesses to potentially testify over the next two weeks.

Among the witnesses is Shaw, who will be transported from his state prison to Denton County to testify.
The state is not seeking the death penalty for Ho.

​

​

 
I went to opening statements yesterday. The courtroom was full. Sabrina plead not guilty to all charges.

The prosecutor laid out the case in great detail, from the timeline of events to the abuse the child suffered. The defense is arguing that Todd Shaw is to blame for manipulating Sabrina and she was afraid of him, however the prosecution said there were text messages between the two which would prove this was not the case.

The witnesses yesterday were first responders and the 911 dispatch. We heard the 911 call made by Sabrina. We saw photo's of Phoenix showing his injuries. I can only describe these as horrific. The EMT who took him to the hospital described these as gruesome.

I had to leave at the lunch break. I am unable to attend today.

~E
 
I have not attended any further days of trial but have been following Brooke Colombo's reporting in the Denton Record-Chronicle. It's brutal. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday I believe, and I will be attending that.
~E
 
Miss Elizabeth said:
I have not attended any further days of trial but have been following Brooke Colombo's reporting in the Denton Record-Chronicle. It's brutal. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday I believe, and I will be attending that.
~E
Click to expand...
Thank you for doing this.
 
Closing arguments were made this morning. Heartbreaking to listen to. As expected, the defense is laying the blame solely at the feet of Todd Shaw, who was sentenced to LWOP last year after pleading guilty. The prosecution posits that Sabrina knew what was going on, had ample opportunity to seek medical attention and get Phoenix out of the situation, but chose not to.

The jury have the case now.

dentonrc.com

Jury deliberates in trial of Sabrina Ho, accused of her 7-year-old son's murder in 2022

The jury is deliberating a verdict Monday afternoon in the case of Sabrina Ho, who is accused of her 7-year-old son Phoenix Ho’s murder.
dentonrc.com dentonrc.com

~E
 
In a verdict reached on January 22, 2024, 46-year-old Sabrina Ann Ho was convicted of Capital Murder for the death of her 7-year-old son, Phoenix Ho, on April 1, 2022. The Capital Murder charge carries an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Additionally, the jury found Sabrina Ho guilty on four counts of Injury to Child causing bodily injury, one count of Injury to a Child by Omission causing serious bodily injury, and one count of Injury to a Child causing serious bodily injury. For the serious bodily injury counts, Sabrina Ho received a life sentence, and for each bodily injury count, a 10-year prison term was imposed. The jury also imposed a $10,000 fine on all counts related to Injury to a Child.
 
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