San José Parents Charged With Neglect in 8-Year-Old’s Death
In the wake of the tragic death of another child involved in the Santa Clara County child welfare system, two parents have been charged with criminal neglect and the District Attorney is proposing a new approach to keeping vulnerable kids safe.
Gabrielle Hanson and Jacob Randolph, the mother and stepfather of 8-year-old Aurora Williams, were arraigned in a San José courtroom Tuesday afternoon on felony charges of child neglect that resulted in her death, along with several other child endangerment misdemeanor charges related to the wellbeing of six other children in their home.
Aurora, who died in May following an asthma attack, is the latest of several children to die while their safety was being monitored and evaluated by the county’s embattled Department of Family and Children’s Services, which has faced intense scrutiny and state intervention due to the spate of deaths in recent years.
Another child in the home was reportedly sexually assaulted while she was between ages 11 and 15, by Hanson’s brother, Jonathan Hanson, who was charged with two felony counts of sexual assault of a minor in court Tuesday.
“This little asthmatic girl and her brothers and sisters were living in a home filled with roaches, mold, animal feces and two parents who were not providing enough care or food for their children, along with a sexual predator,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said about Aurora and her siblings at a press conference held immediately after the court hearing.
“Why is this happening when we have a system that is supposed to save children from abuse, from drugs and from neglect?” Rosen said. “Of course, this is a complex problem, but public servants are supposed to solve complex and difficult problems. These children’s deaths have been met with reports and remorse and promises of reforms. And yet, here we are again.”
Aurora’s death is an “another urgent warning” about kids who are in danger in Santa Clara County, Rosen said.
He said his office is looking into a new blueprint in which the DA’s office and other county officials “play a more direct, tangible and collaborative role in these fraud, children and family matters” to better protect kids.
“This in general is a plan that creates a team of high-ranking specialists from different agencies who would jointly address the safety of our county’s most vulnerable, like Aurora,” he said.
The county’s child welfare system has been under state oversight by the California Department of Social Services since 2023, following the overdose death of 3-month-old Phoenix Castro, who was living in a home with addicted parents, and the stabbing death of 6-year-old Jordan Walker at the hands of his uncle.
The state oversight might have wrapped up if not for the death of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez this April.
Jaxon, a special needs toddler, died in a hospital after authorities said he was repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted by his relative’s son, after he was placed in that home by the county child welfare department despite several red flags and disqualifying factors, including a child endangerment conviction on his relative’s record.
Jaxon’s death prompted the firing of several social workers, further internal reviews and tightening of control in the department, pointed criticism from county supervisors and another round of state review.
In a report from the state last month, investigators with the California Department of Social Services found “significant systemic gaps in documentation and timeliness across required emergency placement procedures,” and that only 10% of emergency placements made by the county complied with state law.
State officials also found roughly half the background checks to determine if foster parents were safe caretakers for children in need were conducted only after the children were placed in their care, and that social workers often didn’t include evidence of criminal records when reviewing potential foster parents and extended family members.
In Aurora’s case, police officers and detectives who searched the East San José home on Lancelot Lane in May said they “found every room was unkempt and in disarray, with a severe cockroach and insect infestation, a pungent acidic odor of urine and animal fecal matter, and visible mold throughout the residence,” a police investigative summary said.
Police said there were 12 reports to the child welfare department dating back to 2022, “indicating that school personnel and medical providers had repeatedly expressed concerns involving unsanitary living conditions, inadequate supervision, irregular school attendance and inconsistent medical follow-up.”
However, DFCS records obtained from the county show that in at least four different instances since September 2023, social workers visiting the home and interviewing the parents and Aurora concluded that reports of neglect or abuse were unfounded or inconclusive, with several other similar determinations made regarding other children in the home since that time.
While prosecutors asked Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kelley Paul to keep Randolph and Gabrielle Hanson in custody, Paul allowed them both to be released after court Tuesday, with criminal protective orders to not see their children, who were removed from their home after Aurora’s death, and requirements that they not supervise or care for any other children.
Jonathan Hanson was kept in custody with no option for bail.
During the court hearing, Gabrielle Hanson was seen crying, and shaking her head as Deputy District Attorney Morgan Willis, in an argument to keep Hanson in custody, alleged that she showed “continual disregard” for Aurora. Willis said Hanson also “callously ignored” a plea from her stepdaughter who told Hanson that she was experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of Jonathan Hanson.
Hanson’s attorney, Chief Alternate Defender Brian Matthews, said prosecutors were “preying on emotion in a very serious and tragic case,” but that she should be released while the case moves forward. The pair are expected back in court on Nov. 20.
“I will strongly object to the idea that she callously ignored anything,” Matthews said.
KQED reporter Brian Krans contributed to this story.