Deceased Parents Of Young Boy In Viral Cop-Hugging Photo Reported For Abuse 3 Days Before Accident
March 30, 2018
A close friend of the Hart family tells me there was nothing but love in their home. Also says all six of the kids were biological siblings. Sarah and Jen adopted them to help keep them together and give them a better life. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/R94o00Jy9J
— Kellee Azar (@KelleeAzar) March 29, 2018
Hart Family Reported To Child Services Days Before Crash
The tragic family crash believed to have claimed the lives of all involved, including Devante Hart, the young black child who went viral after photo of him hugging a police officer amid Black Lives Matter protests, has left more questions than answers since news broke. Though he and two of his five siblings remain to be found, police believe that all children were present in the car.
Now, reports of potential neglect and abuse are seeping into the story and adding more question marks to the cause of the crash.
People reports that three days before the crash occurred, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services received a call from a person concerned that the six Hart children seemed to be “potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect.”
Department spokeswoman Norah West confirms that an agent visited the family’s home in Woodland, CA on three consecutive days, but was unable to make contact with the family. On one occasion, the family was home and simply did not come to the door.
JUST IN: Washington State Dept. of Social Services says it opened Child Protective Services investigation into Hart family on March 23. Children, 3 of which are confirmed dead in a California crash, were identified as potential victims of abuse or neglect. https://t.co/6eDBvVbHFB pic.twitter.com/ve41p3X76V
— KATU News (@KATUNews) March 29, 2018
The neighbors who made the report came forward and explained making the call after one of the Hart boys repeatedly came to their home asking for food, claiming that his mothers refused to feed him or his siblings. He also reportedly told them that they weren’t allowed to play outside. He went out of his way to hide retrieving the food from his mothers.
To top it off, before the Harts moved to California from Minnesota, one of the mothers in question was sentenced to 90 days in jail and one year probation over domestic abuse charges, after teachers discovered intense bruises on the back and stomach of one of their daughters, then just 6 years old.
Investigators have yet to determine why the family was traveling up the coast or what their intended destination was.
Although investigators have gone on record saying that they believe the crash was a true accident, there are also no brake or skid marks on the road indicating any cause for the truck to have veered off the road.
SMH. It appears that there is A LOT more to this case than originally reported.
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