West Caln Township community comes together to remember Malinda Hoagland, 12-year-old who died after alleged abuse
WEST CALN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) — The disturbing news of Malinda Hoagland's death and the suffering she endured before dying from her injuries affected virtually everyone who heard the details.
"My stomach just turned," Kristie Morefield, of West Caln Township, Pennsylvania, said.
Kristie and Heather Morefield are sisters who live in West Caln Township in Chester County. Heather Morefield's daughter, Mikaela, was a classmate of Malinda's before prosecutors say her father took her out of school in the winter. Mikaela and her friends also heard the horrible news Tuesday.
"We were just talking about how no child deserves to go through that and how it was honestly devastating that she had to live through that," Mikaela said.
Officials said Malinda, 12, was found "broken and barely alive" in West Caln Township over the weekend. She was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.
Malinda's father and his girlfriend have been arrested and charged with attempted murder, the Chester County district attorney said Tuesday.
Mikaela and her friends thought they'd do something to remember Malinda, so they got t-shirts and signed them with blue markers.
Blue, because it was Malinda's favorite color. Meanwhile, Kristie Moreland heard what Mikaela and her friends were planning and shared it on Facebook.
"We were just trying to rally the children together so that they didn't feel alone or sad, so that's what it started with," Kristie Moreland said.
Mikaela, who wasn't a close friend of Malinda's, said many students wore blue to remember Malinda.
"From what I saw, almost everybody was wearing blue," Mikaela said.
Heather and Kristie Moreland said the big turnout speaks to the feeling of community here.
"I just think it's really sweet how the community is so strong and we really spread the word, and fast," Kristie Moreland said. "There was only a few hours and hundreds of people were talking about it."