Father, girlfriend charged in 12-year-old Malinda Hoagland's death waive preliminary hearing
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) — The family of Malinda Hoagland says they were waiting for this day to lay eyes on their father, Rendell Hoagland, and his girlfriend, Cindy Warren, both charged in the torture and starvation death of the 12-year-old.
A preliminary hearing for Rendell Hoagland and Warren was waived Thursday at the Chester County Courthouse in West Chester. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Rendell Hoagland and Warren.
Malinda's family left the courthouse in what they say was taking justice one step at a time. Thursday was the first time they saw Rendell Hoagland and Warren, who are charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in Malinda's death.
"I needed to see him shackled the way my sister was shackled," Emily Lee, Malinda's half-sister, said.
Rendell Hoagland appeared in a red prison jumpsuit and wore white rosary beads around his neck. Neither he nor Warren made eye contact with a courtroom packed with family and supporters of the deceased 12-year-old.
Both told the judge they understood in waiving Thursday's hearing, they were giving up their right to challenge the prosecution's case at this stage.
"Obviously, they don't want to fight. That's their right," Jamie Hoagland, Malinda's half-sister, said. "That doesn't mean we aren't going to fight. We are here for Malinda. We're not here for them."
Rhonda Thomas, Rendell Hoagland's sister, was emotional in court.
"Just knowing what happened to my niece is hard," Thomas said, "and I want to see the same thing happen to them. How can you do that to somebody that you're supposed to love and protect?"
Neither Rendell Hoagland nor Warren has entered a plea at this time. Their attorneys and prosecutors declined to comment Thursday. Up next would be a formal arraignment for the pair.
Investigators announced the arrests of Rendell Hoagland and Warren in May after Malinda was found "broken and barely alive." West Caln Township police found Malinda unconscious on Saturday, May 4, and rushed her to the hospital, where doctors found her to be undernourished, weighing 50 pounds, covered with bruises and broken bones. She died at the hospital.
"It hurts to know that this has been going on for so long and hidden from all of us," Thomas said.
A CBS News Philadelphia investigation found a history of child abuse by Warren and missed red flags.
According to the police criminal complaint, video evidence from in-home cameras documented nearly a year of abuse. Investigators claimed the footage showed Malinda chained to furniture and forced to do strenuous physical exercise.
"Those videos showed that Malinda was ankle-cuffed to furniture and verbally berated by the defendants through that in-camera speaker system," Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe de Barrena-Sarobe said in May. "And they showed that she would be punished for perceived slights by being denied food, sometimes for days."
Court documents from 2007 obtained by CBS News Philadelphia show Warren pleaded guilty to child endangerment for her role in the repeated abuse of her 3-year-old son. Warren's then-husband, McKinley Warren, was also charged.
Cindy Warren and McKinley Warren were also charged with the death of McKinley Warren's 2-year-old daughter from seven years before. That case stalled because "we couldn't say definitively whether or not Warren or his wife, Cindy, killed the child," the Monroe County district attorney said. McKinley Warren pleaded guilty and is serving a maximum sentence of 50 years.
Cindy Warren testified against her husband, and charges against her involving her stepdaughter's death were dropped. However, she pleaded guilty to child endangerment involving the couple's 3-year-old son. She was sentenced to 3-7 years in prison.
In June, Malinda's half-sisters said they want improved communication between Child Protective Services in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties after the agency missed warning signs in Malinda's death.
A civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of Hoagland's estate and Malinda's half-sisters against several state, county and school agencies related to Malinda's death, alleging wrongful death, negligence, recklessness and other charges.