Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for a Pennsylvania couple accused of starving and beating their 12-year-old daughter to death in a “years-long pattern of extensive torture and abuse.”
Malinda Hoagland weighed just 50 pounds and had “numerous injuries throughout her body” when she died just hours after being admitted to Paoli Hospital’s Trauma Unit in May of this year.
Father Rendell Hoagland, 52, and stepmother Cindy Warren, 45, were charged with first-degree murder after investigators found videos in their West California home that revealed their “systematic method of terrorizing, manipulating and dehumanizing Malinda.”
Warren has already served time for child abuse after her 2-year-old stepdaughter was beaten to death by her ex-partner in 2000, and Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said only the maximum sentence would provide justice for Malinda.
“I can stand here before you and tell you that we intend to pursue the death penalty in this case,” he said at a news conference.
Malinda was found after Hoagland called 911 claiming her daughter crashed into a tree while riding her bike and lost consciousness.
Father Rendell Hoagland and stepmother Cindy Warren are charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder and involuntary servitude.
Police found Malinda “barely alive” on May 4 after Hoagland called 911, claiming she had crashed her bike into a tree.
Doctors at the hospital were shocked by her condition, which included severe bruising, half a dozen broken bones and liver damage.
An autopsy found more than 75 individually identifiable “bruises, contusions, ulcers and pressure sores” on her body and concluded her death was caused by “starvation and multiple blunt force injuries.”
DailyMail.com reviewed the couple’s social media and previously revealed that Malinda disappeared from Hoagland’s Facebook in early January, while the couple continued to post images of Warren’s nine-year-old Gavin, who police say was not abused.
In the latest images he posted of his daughter, she appears emaciated as she holds up what appear to be Christmas presents. In one image, her hand appears bruised.
Investigators say the couple rushed to delete videos and text messages in the hours before their deaths.
But they still managed to recover “hundreds of videos and still images from the defendants’ cell phones and Blink security cameras” after obtaining a search warrant.
They reportedly show Hoagland and Warren handcuffing Malinda’s ankles to furniture, forcing her to sleep chained to the floor without pillows or blankets and telling her not to expect breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The obese couple allegedly forced the girl to perform “endless amounts” of strenuous exercises while handcuffed as punishment for “perceived slights.”
Those ‘snubs’ included stealing food, not smiling during Zoom school sessions or wetting herself while handcuffed to a piece of furniture.
In the latest images posted by Hoagland, Malinda looks gaunt as she holds up what appear to be Christmas presents. In one image, her hand appears to be bruised.
Hoagland used to post about her daughter often, but stopped doing so completely in January.
They watched her through the video surveillance system and shouted orders and reprimands through the speaker system while the girl was chained and alone in the basement.
Malinda had attended North Brandywine High School until December 2023, when her parents withdrew her and enrolled her in online-only lessons, and she would remain chained under her desk out of camera view.
Warren had already served time in prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors that allowed her to testify against her ex-husband McKinley Warren Jr. for the murder of their two-year-old daughter, Jessica Bock.
Jessica died in 2000 under eerily similar circumstances to Malinda, after the Warrens took her to the hospital and claimed she had fallen out of a parked car and hit her head, the Pocono Record reported.
The child died after Warren refused to change her diaper because she had “painted her nails.” Instead, Warren called McKinley, who had been drinking at a bar, to come home and change the child’s diaper, and that’s when he fatally injured Jessica.
In her 2009 plea deal with prosecutors, Warren pleaded guilty to allowing her ex-husband to beat their then-three-year-old son, Isaiah. She was sentenced to three to seven years in prison.
Warren was not charged with Jessica’s murder, but Captain William Parrish said she was also partly to blame for Jessica’s death.
“At any time, she could have identified her husband as the one who caused the death of her stepdaughter and abused her son, but she refused to do so,” Parrish said at the time.
Warren pleaded guilty in 2009 to allowing her ex-husband to beat their then three-year-old son Isaiah and was sentenced to three to seven years in prison. She is pictured the same year.
Police said Warren was partly to blame for the 2000 death of her 2-year-old stepdaughter Jessica at the hands of her ex-partner McKinley Warren Jr.
‘Instead, she lied to her husband about how Jessica was injured and let a neighbor report Isaiah’s abuse.
‘Whenever the neighbours complained that she and her husband were drunk, loud and boisterous and we would go to their house, she was the one who remained loud and disorderly while her husband calmed down, so she was the one who got taken away.’
Warren’s ex-husband, McKinley Warren Jr., is serving a 25- to 50-year sentence for abusing Isaiah and murdering Jessica.
Police said the Warrens’ son, Isaiah, looked like “a boxer who had just been through a title fight” when he was found in January 2007 after a neighbor called authorities.
Isaiah’s three older siblings were placed in foster care shortly after his birth due to the investigation into Jessica’s 2000 death, but McKinley was not charged until 2007, when authorities found Isaiah and his wife agreed to testify against him.
Malinda’s former classmates at North Brandywine High School honored her memory by decorating her locker when news of her death emerged.
Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Catherine Van Vooren issued a statement saying school officials had previously discussed signs of abuse displayed by Malinda.
‘Twelve-year-old Malinda Hoagland was enrolled in our school district from Spring 2022 through December 2023, when her family withdrew her from North Brandywine Middle School and enrolled her in another cyber charter school,’ she wrote.
‘Our staff diligently reported concerns about her well-being to the state agency that receives and handles concerns. Shortly thereafter, she was expelled from our schools.
‘His younger brother continued to attend school at King’s Highway. He is now in protective custody and is expected to be transferred to another county and school district.
‘This news has shaken our entire school community and we are deeply saddened and upset by the horrific details of the abuse this child suffered.
The couple was arrested on May 6 and is currently being held in the Chester County Jail without bail.
They face other charges, including second-degree murder, third-degree murder and involuntary servitude.
Hoagland almost exclusively posted images of his son Gavin on Facebook, only sharing an image of Malinda once, in December 2020.
The last photos she shared of Malinda were posted on January 5, where she appeared opening Christmas presents with Gavin.
The image above shows the house where Malinda was allegedly tortured for months.
“This incredibly resilient young woman could not take it anymore. She began to feel ill early in the morning on May 4. And the defendants denied her medical attention,” Barrena-Sarobe said.
Information from the coroner’s office and medical experts demonstrates a years-long pattern of torture and extensive abuse.
‘Furthermore, the text messages and hundreds of videos show that the defendants employed a calculated and systematic method to terrorize, manipulate and dehumanize Malinda.
“We will get justice for Malinda.”
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