A Texas woman was sentenced last week to 50 years in prison for killing her boyfriend’s 4-year-old daughter in 2019, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Shauna Hooi, 33, of Tomball, was caring for her five children and 4-year-old Jaxia Alexander when she took her to a 24-hour emergency center on September 7, 2019. said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. news release.
At the emergency clinic on the day of his death, Alexander’s body was already cold, and Fouie told medical workers and authorities what had happened to the child, who had a visible black eye and other injuries. He reportedly told at least four different stories.
“We must work together as a community to protect children who are especially vulnerable to abuse from violent adults,” Ogg said. “We are grateful to the jury who recognized this was not a single incident, but a series of abuses, and who rightly sentenced this woman to decades in prison.”
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Shauna Hooey, 33, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of four-year-old Jakizia Alexander. (Harris County District Attorney)
Ogg said Alexander began living at Hooi’s house after her father, who worked night shifts and had sole custody of her, had an affair with her. The girl’s father lived with her family elsewhere, close to his workplace, and rarely saw his daughter, only seeing her through video calls in the two months before her death.
On the day of his death, Mr Fouie said he had to wake Mr Alexander up, but he found him breathing deeply and labored and not acting normally. Ogg said Hooi drove the girl “in a hot car so she could breathe normally” but eventually returned to her home, changed her clothes and took Alexander to the emergency room. He said he took her to the hospital.
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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said 4-year-old Alexander was already cold when Hooi brought him to the emergency room on the day of his death. (Mandel Gann/AFP via Getty Images)
In another version of what happened before Ms. Alexander’s death, Ms. Fooi claimed that in one case the child ran into a doorknob and in another she threw herself into a toilet paper holder in the bathroom. Both incidents allegedly occurred two days before Hooi took Alexander to the emergency room, and Hooi claimed the child was acting normally.
Ogg said further testing revealed that Alexander had signs of previous repeated abuse, including new, recovering and healed wounds.
An autopsy on Alexander revealed that he died from blunt force trauma to the head, Ogg said, adding that a fatal blow would have immediately caused seizures, vomiting and daze. . Witnesses said Alexander was acting normally the day before he was rushed to the hospital.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and later charged Hooi with murder.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office charged Hooi with murder after investigating the circumstances of Alexander’s death. (Mark Felix/AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
After a nine-day trial, a Harris County jury found Hooi guilty of murder and sentenced him to 50 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtell, head of the District Attorney’s Child Fatality Unit, prosecuted Mr. Hooi, saying child abusers abuse children by keeping them away from other adults or by dressing them to hide their injuries. He said that people often try to hide the signs of
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“Child abuse does happen, and when you see it, you need to report it and call the police and Child Protective Services,” Sawtelle said in the release. “This girl had been wearing her long sleeves all summer. If someone had noticed her injury and intervened, she probably would still be here.”
Hooi must serve at least half of his sentence in order to be eligible for parole.
