33. Child Abuse & Murder-Suicide: Sarah & Jennifer Hart

The Pink Collar team is wishing you a happy Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy your day off and stay safe during this holiday. Nathalie and Rachel teamed up to tackle the case of Jennifer and Sarah Hart. Jennifer and Sarah were two white women who adopted six black children from the foster care system. On their social media, they portrayed themselves as a happy, progressive family. It was shocking to many when the family died as a result of a horrific car wreck. When the police began to investigate, they found a history of child abuse reports. The more they learned, the less the wreck seemed like an accident and more like a way for Jennifer and Sarah to escape the repeated allegations against them. We also discuss how the children ended up in the foster care system, including the story of Dontay Davis. Jennifer and Sarah adopted his siblings, Devonte, Jeremiah, and Ciera, but declined to adopt 9-year-old Dontay because of his "behavioral issues". Dontay felt rejected because he was "bad" and carried the guilt of not being able to be there for his younger siblings. We discuss recent reforms in the foster care system, including some changes we hope to see. Our sources: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/09/457f99a9ef7947/inside-the-hart-family-home-po.htmlhttps://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/murder/hart-family-jennifer-hart-sarah-hart-devonte-hart-suv-crash https://newsone.com/3842962/devonte-hart-hannah-hart/ https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2018/04/devonte_hart_family_crash_its.html https://newsone.com/3842962/devonte-hart-hannah-hart/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/his-siblings-were-killed-by-their-adoptive-mother-he-was-left-in-foster-care-to-suffer-a-more-common-fate/2019/12/11/f54f793a-d654-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/story-of-harts-foster-child-is-one-of-heartbreak-though-not-the-way-some-might-expect/ https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/us/hart-family-crash-inquest-searches/index.html https://theappeal.org/hart-family-fatal-crash-birth-mother-scheurich/