ANTHONY and ALAYNA HINOJOSA - 4 and 3 yo (2009) - Huron (SW of Detroit) MI

Prosecutor: Mother Wanted To Get Rid Of Children
Mother Accused Of Setting Fire That Killed 4-Year-Old, 3-Year-Old
POSTED: Monday, October 31, 2011
UPDATED: 7:06 pm EDT November 1, 2011

DETROIT -- Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of a Michigan mother who is charged with the deaths of her two children.
Sharon Hinojosa is accused of setting fire to her boyfriend's home in Huron Township on Oct. 9, 2009. She got out with her then 1-year-old son, but her 4-year-old son Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old daughter Alayna Hinojosa were killed.
Justin Whistler, the father of the boy who survived, testified that he had tried to break up with Hinojosa and asked her to leave his home.
"I just thought there was no way to try and work it out. I didn't know what else to do. It was just getting out of control," Whistler said.
On the morning of the fire, Whistler said he saw Hinojosa at the scene and she said to him, "Don't worry, your kid's not in there."
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lora Weingarden said Hinojosa confided in several people on what she should do to get rid of Anthony and Alayna, who were fathered by a different man.
"She told them, 'I love my boyfriend Justin but he doesn't want my kids. He feels our relationship would be better if they weren't together with the kids. I love him and I don't know what to do,'" Weingarden said. "The truth was, that at about 3:15 in the morning, Sharon Hinojosa set fire to that trailer. She poured a flammable substance on the inside of the front door and then she put a flammable substance on the outside front porch. So, no one could go in and out of that door without being burned."
The defense chose to delay their opening statements.
The 31-year-old is charged with felony murder and arson. She faces mandatory life in prison if convicted as charged.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/29639963/detail.html

Sides In Mother's Murder Trial Debate Over Evidence
Mother Accused Of Setting Fire That Killed 4-Year-Old, 3-Year-Old
POSTED: Monday, October 31, 2011
UPDATED: 6:02 pm EDT November 2, 2011

DETROIT -- Trial began Tuesday for a Michigan mother who is charged with the deaths of her two children.
Sharon Hinojosa is accused of setting fire to her boyfriend's home in Huron Township on Oct. 9, 2009. She got out with her then 1-year-old son, but her 4-year-old son Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old daughter Alayna Hinojosa were killed.
Justin Whistler, the father of the boy who survived, testified that he had tried to break up with Hinojosa and asked her to leave his home.
"I just thought there was no way to try and work it out. I didn't know what else to do. It was just getting out of control," Whistler said.
On the morning of the fire, Whistler said he saw Hinojosa at the scene and she said to him, "Don't worry, your kid's not in there."
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Lora Weingarden said Hinojosa confided in several people on what she should do to get rid of Anthony and Alayna, who were fathered by a different man.
"She told them, 'I love my boyfriend Justin but he doesn't want my kids. He feels our relationship would be better if they weren't together with the kids. I love him and I don't know what to do,'" Weingarden said. "The truth was, that at about 3:15 in the morning, Sharon Hinojosa set fire to that trailer. She poured a flammable substance on the inside of the front door and then she put a flammable substance on the outside front porch. So, no one could go in and out of that door without being burned."
The defense is also arguing that Hinojosa's Constitutional rights were violated when she was interrogated without being read her Miranda rights. They don't want a five-hour long recording to be allowed in court.
"It's a reasonable person riding in a police car, down to a police station, sitting in the interrogation room, being questioned by police officers. She should have been Miranda-ized," defense attorney Bryan Sherer.
But for the prosecution, Huron Police Officer John Bettendorf said she was not read her Miranda rights because, at the immediate time following the fire, she was not considered a suspect.
"We felt she was a possible victim of a crime. So, we were just trying to find out what the situation was," he said.
The 31-year-old is charged with felony murder and arson. She faces mandatory life in prison if convicted as charged.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/29639963/detail.html

Hinojosa's Police Interview Heard In Court Monday
Huron Township Mother Accused Of Setting Fire That Killed 2 Children
POSTED: Monday, November 7, 2011
UPDATED: 5:35 pm EST November 7, 2011

DETROIT -- Sharon Hinojosa was questioned by a suspicious detective just a few hours after the fire that killed her two children.
Hinojosa is accused of setting fire to her boyfriend's home in Huron Township on Oct. 9, 2009. She got out with her then 1-year-old son, but her 4-year-old son Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old daughter Alayna Hinojosa were killed.
The detective's interview with the mother was heard by a Detroit courtroom Monday.
"I am being honest with you," Hinojosa told the detective. "I was smoking a cigarette. Yes I was smoking a cigarette but it did not catch the house on fire."
She continued to answer the detective's questions and insisted she did not purposely kill the two children.
Prosecutors claim Hinojosa saved the baby, who was father by Justin Whisler who owned the home, but neglected to save the other two children, who had a different father.
Hinojosa told the detective that she tried to save the other kids.
"I swear to God, I didn't try to start the fire," she said during the interview.
She wept in court Monday while listening to the audio tape of the interview.
She said she threw a cigarette on the living room floor where she had used some chemicals to clean. However, fire investigators believe the fire started in another area near the home's front door.
Arson investigators are working to pinpoint the cause of the fire and it's origin in the home.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/29706793/detail.html

Michigan mother found guilty in children's deaths
Sharon Hinojosa convicted of setting fire to trailer with son, daughter inside

Published On: Nov 09 2011 07:15:59 PM

A mother accused of setting fire to a trailer that had her two children inside was found guilty of murder on Wednesday.

Sharon Hinojosa is accused of setting fire to her boyfriend's home in Huron Township on Oct. 9, 2009. She got out with her then 1-year-old son, but her 4-year-old son Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old daughter Alayna Hinojosa were killed.

The defense had argued that the fire was ignited by accident. The prosecution had argued Hinojosa purposely set the fire to mend a relationship with an estranged boyfriend with who fathered her youngest child. Anthony and Alayna had a different father.

"She felt that if she got rid of her older kids, she, and her boyfriend and their baby that they shared in common could be together," said Lora Weingarden.

Hinojosa cried and did not make a statement after the verdict was read.

The murder conviction carries an automatic penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Michigan-mother-found-guilty-in-children-s-deaths/-/1719418/4707888/-/3jd286z/-/index.html

DETROIT -- Calling it a "horrendous" crime, a judge sentenced a
Detroit-area mother to life in prison Wednesday for setting a fire that
trapped and killed two of her children in a mobile home.


Sharon Hinojosa says the tragedy in Huron Township was an accident.
But prosecutors accused her of intentionally setting the fire in a bid
to improve her relationship with a boyfriend, the father of another
child who escaped the blaze in Hinojosa's arms.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Hathaway said Hinojosa's
acts in 2009 "constituted a complete betrayal of what being a mother
stands for."


She was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder in the
deaths of son Anthony, 4, and daughter Alayna, 3. The judge said it was
"horrendous" and "heinous."


Hinojosa, 31, turned to the courtroom gallery, apologized and said she loved her kids.


"You think you're mourning? I'm mourning, too," she said.


The remarks angered relatives of the victims who moments earlier told
the judge about the impact on their lives. Alayna's grandmother, Denise
Jones, said it was "cowardly" for Hinojosa to "disregard these children
like a bag of garbage."


She said she hopes Hinojosa in prison hears her children asking, "What did we do to you?" to deserve an awful death.


Hinojosa's attorney, Bryan Sherer, declined to comment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/sharon-hinojosa-sentenced-to-life_n_1122762.html