Attempted Murder Charges Filed After Preteen Girl Dies: Chesco DA

WEST CALN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Chester County couple are charged with attempted murder and related crimes in connection with the abuse, neglect, and death of the man's 12-year-old daughter.

Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe Tuesday said Cindy Warren, 45, and Rendell Hoagland, 52, both of Coatesville, have been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and more crimes in connection with Malinda Hoagland's death.

Barrena-Sarobe said the charges come after West Caln Police were called to a home Saturday, where they found Malinda, 12, unconscious and unresponsive. Officers were called to the home by Hoagland himself, who told authorities Malinda struck a tree while riding a bike over the weekend.

Authorities found her "broken" and "barely alive," Barrena-Sarobe said.

The DA's office accused Warren and Hoagland of torturing the girl, who later died at a hospital, for months after taking her out of school and enrolling her into an online school.

Officers who found Malinda took her to Paoli Hospital, where doctors found her emaciated weighing just 50 pounds, suffering from at least six broken bones, covered in bruises, and suffering from organ failure, the DA's office said.

Searches of Warren and Hoagland's cell phones turned up videos from in-home security cameras.

Authorities said those videos shows Malinda handcuffed to furniture and being berated by the two.

Barrena-Sarobe said Malinda was seemingly punished in systematic ways.

She was forced to do strenuous physical exercise while still shackled and denied food, sometimes for days, based on perceived slights, he said.

Both Warren and Hoagland are being held on $1 million bail for their charges.

However, Barrena-Sarobe said results from pending medical reviews and reports could lead to murder charges being filed. Those results, he said, can take weeks to get back.

Another child, Warren's 9-year-old son, was in the home, but Barrena-Sarobe said he was not harmed and is no longer in her custody.