Jury Finds The Death Of Two Women And Their 6 Adopted Children A Murder/Suicide In Crash Off A California Cliff

A special coroner’s jury in California decided the deaths of two women and their six adopted children was a murder-suicide after hearing testimony that one of the women searched “death by drowning” online.

Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner Thomas Allman told CNN,  “The death certificates for Jennifer and Sarah Hart will be listed as suicide. The six children who perished on that day, their deaths, certainly as a jury ruled, was determined to be at the hands of another, other than by accident, and their death certificates will list homicide as the manner of death.”

Jennifer and Sarah Hart killed themselves and the children on March 26, 2018, in Mendocino County, California; days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation into allegations of neglect. One of the Hart’s neighbors filed a complaint with the state, alleging the children were being deprived of food as punishment. The Hart family fled their Woodland, Washington, home March 23rd and headed to California.

Throughout the drive to California, Sarah Hart searched “suicide,” “drowning,” “Benadryl dosages” and “overdose methods” on her phone’s internet. According to California Highway Patrol investigator Jake Slates, she also searched whether death by drowning would be painful. The deleted searches were recovered from her phone by police.

Authorities believed the crash was deliberate; however, they wanted a jury to make official findings using a coroner’s inquest. “A coroner’s inquest is generally used in cases involving in-custody deaths or officer-involved shootings where public interest is high and the need for transparency critical,” said Mendocino County sheriff’s Capt. Gregory L. Van Patten. The jurors were asked to choose from four manners of death, including natural causes, suicide, accident or an intentional act by another. 

The bodies of the two women were found inside the vehicle, while the bodies of siblings Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail were found near the car. Ciera Hart was found weeks later; her body was pulled from the Pacific Ocean. Hannah Hart was eventually identified through DNA, and the body of Devonte Hart has not been recovered.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Slates said Jennifer Hart had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit and may have been “drinking to build up her courage.” He also said, “Sarah Hart had 42 doses of generic Benadryl in her system, and the children also had high amounts of the sleep-inducing drug in their bodies”.

“They both decided that this was going to be the end,” Slates said. “That if they can’t have their kids that nobody was going to have those kids.”