New lawsuit filed in death of 12-year-old Malinda Hoagland. Here's what we know.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- CBS News Philadelphia has reviewed a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday against several state, county and school agencies related to the torture and starvation death of 12-year-old Malinda Hoagland, the Chester County girl who died in May.
The latest lawsuit lists a long list of defendants, including Chester County, Chester County Children, Youth and Families, school districts, and individual schools.
The lawsuit, which alleges wrongful death, negligence, recklessness and other charges, was filed on behalf of Hoagland's estate and her older half-sisters. Attorneys for the sisters say various agencies failed to protect their little sister either by turning a blind eye or flat-out missing red flags and warning signs.
Unlike the criminal case, which is seeking the death penalty for Hoagland's father and his girlfriend, this lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in damages. Attorneys say Hoagland's death reveals system failures on multiple levels.
"Numerous complaints, numerous reports of physical abuse, black eyes, injuries, stuff that doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out and zero, zero visits to the home by Chester County Children and Youth, not one time," Tom Bosworth, an attorney for Malinda's sisters and the estate of Malinda Hoagland said.
In June, CBS News Philadelphia exclusively interviewed Hoagland's half-sisters. They say they'll do whatever it takes to make sure this never happens to another child.
We've reached out to all the defendants named in the complaint.
The Public Information Officer for Chester County said: "Chester County cannot comment on matters of litigation."
A Monroe County Commissioner said: "Being as we just received your information, the only response we can provide at this time is no comment."
After Malinda's death in May, the Coatesville Area School District released a statement saying: "Our staff diligently reported concerns about her welfare to the state agency that receives and manages concerns. Shortly thereafter, she was withdrawn from our schools."
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is also a defendant in the case. In response, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services sent us this response: "Our sincerest thoughts continue to be with Malinda's family and friends, as the death and loss of any child is tragic. The Administration cannot comment on pending litigation."
What happened to Malinda Hoagland?
Investigators say it started on May 4, 2024, with a 911 call from Malinda Hoagland's father, Rendell Hoagland, reporting his daughter was unresponsive after riding her bike into a tree.
"Shockingly, they found a 12-year-old girl who was broken and barely alive. Our investigation revealed that Rendell Hoagland and Cindy Warren subjected Malinda to evil and torment that no child should ever have to endure, and they did it for months," Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Malinda died at the hospital. The district attorney said she had several broken bones, bruises covered her body, her organs were failing, and she weighed only 50 pounds.
According to the police criminal complaint, investigators found video evidence from in-home cameras documenting almost a year of abuse, including footage of Malinda chained to furniture and forced to do strenuous physical exercise. CBS News Philadelphia has not seen the videos.
The affidavit says:
Cindy Warren "can be overheard telling MH 'keep moving and don't look for breakfast or lunch tomorrow cause you're not getting it. And you won't get dinner either 'cause I'm not getting up.'"
A video on 2/12/24 at 1:23 A-M shows MH chained to the table, sleeping on the bare floor.
Additional videos from this date show the child chained to the air hockey table and forced to walk in place while crying.
"Those videos showed that Malinda was ankle-cuffed to furniture and verbally berated by the defendants through that in-camera speaker system," de Barrena-Sarobe told reporters. "And they showed that she would be punished for perceived slights by being denied food, sometimes for days."