The Brutal Death of Hanna Mack
Before the sun arose on Sept. 10, 2007, this beautiful little girl’s body was found hanging from the rafters of a metal garage that houses an above-ground swimming pool next to her home. Hanna Mack, age 6, was found hanging nude from the waist down by her mother, Dana Mack. Dana went searching for Hanna after she discovered the first grader missing when it was time to get ready for school.
Kevin Wayne Anders, 32, Dana Mack’s live-in boyfriend, was booked in a Corsicana Texas jail on Sept. 12, 2007, for the unlawful possession of child pornography, a third degree felony. Police said they found images of child pornography during the initial crime scene investigation. Police considered him the prime suspect in the child’s murder. His bond is set at $100,000 for his possession of child pornography charges.
A DNA sample was taken from the shirt Hanna was wearing. It was entered into a Texas Department of Public Safety DNA indexing program and it indicated a match to 19 year old Shaun Earl Arender, who was already in jail on unrelated burglary and drug possession charges. Arender lived less than a mile from Hanna’s rural home. When questioned on Wednesday, Arender would not give a statement, but put his head on the table and cried.
Arender had cut himself with a piece of glass two days earlier, while in custody on the burglary charge. According to the affidavit, he was taken to a hospital “because he was depressed”.
The judge set his bond at $2.5 million.
On September 11, 2007 Hanna’s two older sisters (12 and 14) were removed from the Mack home, and are staying with relatives. The proper authorities will be investigating whether there may have been some inappropriate supervision of the children.
Hanna’s troubled life:
Child Protective Services records were released Thursday showing she suffered emotional trauma linked to her father’s (Russell Mack) attempted suicide when she was 11 months old. The CPS summary of the family’s three run-ins with child-welfare workers said Hanna’s father tried to commit suicide in front of her and her two older sisters. He also threatened to kill his wife, Dana, in front of his daughters. During the 2002 investigation, CPS was unable to conclude whether the Mr. Mack sexually abused his daughters.
There couldn’t determine whether Dana Mack neglected her children’s well-being by allowing contact with him. The allegations were made through the CPS child-abuse hotline, by anonymous people. Marissa Gonzales, public information officer for CPS said that it was too early to know when, or even if the girls will be returned to their mother. Gonzales said it was routine, in such cases, for surviving siblings to be relocated until the investigation is completed.
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07/31/08
Arender trial delayed
District Judge John Jackson has granted a continuance motion for Shaun Earl Arender, filed by his attorneys. Arender is the man charged with the Sept. 10, 2007 rape and murder of 6-year-old Hanna Mack. Those charges came after DNA samples from his blood matched samples found at the Mack crime scene.
Aug. 8 has now been selected as the date for a pre-trial hearing to hear 8 motions and to set a new trial date. The trial was originally scheduled to begin with jury selection on Aug. 18.
It is expected that defense attorneys Mark D. Griffin and Kerri Anderson Donica will ask for a specific amount of time in delaying the trial so they can prepare for a trial which some local observers are saying could last as long as four or five weeks.
Some of the anticipated defense motions will be:
• Asserting that the death penalty should be precluded in this case.
• Asking the judge to require the prosecution disclose its list of expert witnesses it plans to call at trial.
• Asking the judge to require the prosecution to provide all available written witness statements.
• Asking the judge to require the prosecution to provide complete criminal histories on all of the State’s witnesses.
Arender remains in the Navarro County jail, held in lieu of a $2.5 million bond.
The court will set a new trial date at that time.
Resources...
http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/local/local_story_213221325.html
03/15/08
There's a tiny post for trial for a tiny girl forgotten in the news, I've never forgotten her and will have much more to say coming up.
Shaun Earl Arender, 19, faces capital murder charges in connection with the Sept. 10, 2007 sexual assault and murder of 6-year-old Hanna Mack. His trial is set to begin, for now, for Aug. 18. He remains in the Navarro County jail with a bond set at $2.5 million.
Read Story...
http://www.corsicanadailysun.com/news/local_story_075230106.html
11/02/07
Arender defense enters evidence motions
District judge expected to rule early next week
By Loyd Cook
The defense team for Shaun Earl Arender, the man accused of the Sept. 10 sexual assault and hanging death of 6-year-old Hanna Mack, entered a motion to preserve evidence connected with the case, a motion heard in a pre-trial hearing Monday. It was a hearing that saw the defense call the county’s district attorney, sheriff and chief deputy to testify as Arender's lawyers hammered local law enforcement for the Oct. 16 destruction of the two-car garage/barn at the Mack home that was torn down.
Mark Griffith, a Waxahachie attorney with Griffith & Associates, is defending Arender along with local attorney Kerri Anderson Donica. Griffith decried the destruction of the crime scene, which was ordered by the property's owner, as a hindrance to his ability to present a strong defense for his client.
"My hands have already been tied," Griffith said about the building being torn down. "I don't want my feet to be tied, too, and my eyes blindfolded."
Corsicana Daily Sun No longer availabe
11/08/07
Judge rules on Arender evidence motion
No wrongdoing found in destruction of crime scene
By Loyd Cook
In a short, two paragraph written ruling released Wednesday afternoon, District Judge John Jackson found no reason to issue sanctions in connection with the destruction of a crime scene connected with the Hanna Mack murder case. The six-year-old was found Sept. 10 raped and hanged in the garage/barn beside her home. Shaun Earl Arender, 19, was charged with capital murder after his DNA matched samples found at the crime scene.
Arender was in custody on unrelated burglary charges when he was charged with the little girl's murder and his DNA was on file in a national computer database. It came back positive after initial crime scene DNA test results were run through that database.
Jackson's ruling was succinct.
"Relative to the destruction of the crime scene, I find that there is not sufficient evidence which would cause me to impose a sanction at this time," Jackson wrote in his ruling. "Should other evidence lead me to believe the destruction of the crime scene resulted from bad faith or misconduct, I will not hesitate to impose sanctions in the future."
Corsicana Daily Sun
Researched by Cloey 10-01-07
Research from:
www.dallasnews.com
www.kwtx.com
www.chron.com
NBC Dallas
The Associated Press
ABC News