KEY POINTS
- Chastity Hall guilty of four felony charges
- Sentencing scheduled for Oct. 28
- She remains free on bond until sentencing
UPDATE @ 11:35 a.m. (Sept. 11)
Preble County Common Pleas Judge David N. Abruzzo today found 35-year-old Chastity Hall guilty of two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and child endangering, a third-degree felony.
“The state is thrilled with the verdicts and happy for the memory of the victims in this case, Malea and Malachi Bradburn,” said Martin Votel, Preble County prosecuting attorney.
“I think these verdicts are right and proper, both as a matter of law and a matter of mortality,” Votel said. “They demonstrate that a mother cant simply abandon her young children overnight and then act surprised when something tragic happens. There are criminal consequences for that kind of behavior.”
Hall’s sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 28 in Abruzzo’s courtroom, online court records show.
Votel said maximum sentence for the involuntary manslaughter charge is 11 years in state prison. The maximum for felony child endangering is three years.
Hall remains free on bond until the sentencing hearing.
UPDATE @ 10:29 a.m. (Sept. 11)
A Preble County judge has found Chastity Hall guilty of two counts involuntary manslaughter and two counts child endangering. News Center 7’s John Bedell is reviewing the six-page decision and will have more information on News Center 7.
UPDATE @ 9:54 a.m. (Sept. 11)
The Preble County Clerk of Courts office has confirmed a decision from the judge in the bench trial of Chastity Hall has been filled. We are working to learn the details of the judge’s decision.
UPDATE @2:59 p.m. 9/1/2015
A judge said a decision will not be reached until next week in Chastity Hall trial.
UPDATE @2:02 p.m. 9/1/2015
The Prosecutor is giving closing arguments in the case against Chastity Hall.
UPDATE @1:52 p.m. 9/1/2015
Chastity Hall has elected not to testify during her trial for involuntary manslaughter and endangering children. She is accused of leaving her two children home alone, who died in a house fire.
The defense is not calling any more witnesses, and the prosecutor has now called a rebuttal witness.
UPDATE @11:40 a.m. 9/1/2015
The state has rested its case against a Chastity Hall, 35, who is on trial for involuntary manslaughter and endangering children after she is accused of leaving her to children home. The children died in a house fire.
The defense filed a motion for acquittal after the state rested, but the judge denied the request.
The defense’s first witness is a private fire investigator.
EARLIER REPORT 8/31/2015
The children, who were students at Twin Valley South Elementary School, were left alone in their home in the 3400 block of East U.S. 35 while Hall was out drinking the night of Feb. 20 and into the morning of Feb. 21 when the fire broke out, authorities said.
The cause of the fire has been ruled “undetermined” by the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Investigators said the fire was so intense, there was not enough of the home left to determine how the fire started that killed the siblings.
The night before the deadly fire, Hall had sought a babysitter for her children, according to an affidavit filed by Preble County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Spitler. She apparently was unsuccessful, and left home anyway.
The morning of the fire, Hall returned home around 6:45 a.m. to find the yard full of firetrucks and her house destroyed. She yelled “Where are my babies, my babies are in there,” according to an affidavit.
The children’s bodies were recovered in the basement around 10:45 a.m.
Hall’s ex-boyfriend, Arcadio “Eric” Escobar, 33, was indicted on a felony trespassing charge. Escobar was questioned about the fire, but Preble County Prosecutor Martin Votel previously said there was insufficient evidence to charge him in connection to the fire or the children’s deaths.