Sharon Hinojosa, Michigan Mother Convicted Of Killing Kids Gets Life

DETROIT - During sentencing the judge in the case told Sharon Hinojosa she betrayed the very thing a mother stands for when she let her kids die in a fire inside her mobile home.
After his scathing remarks Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Hathaway sentenced Hinojosa to multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.
In court family read victim impact statements. The grandmother of one of the children lashed out at Hinojosa for her crimes.
“To disregard these children like a bag of garbage is not only unbelievable, it’s also cowardly,” said Denise Jones, the grandmother of one of the children killed in the fire.
“As she sits and rots in her cell we hope she hears her children laughing and crying – and asking their mother ‘what did we do to you that was so wrong that you had to hurt us in this way?’” Jones said.
Hinojosa was convicted last month of deliberately setting a fire in October 2009 at her mobile home in Huron Township. The flames killed her 4-year-old son, Anthony, and her 3-year-old daughter Alyana. The prosecution argued Hinojosa did it to ease the strain on her relationship with her then-boyfriend.
Before sentencing Hinojosa faced the courtroom, including her relatives, and made a brief statement maintaining her innocence.


Sharon Hinojosa says the tragedy in Huron Township was an accident. But prosecutors accused her of intentionally setting the fire in a bid to improve her relationship with a boyfriend, the father of another child who escaped the blaze in Hinojosa's arms.


Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel Hathaway said Hinojosa's acts in 2009 "constituted a complete betrayal of what being a mother stands for."


She was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder in the deaths of son Anthony, 4, and daughter Alayna, 3. The judge said it was "horrendous" and "heinous."


Hinojosa, 31, turned to the courtroom gallery, apologized and said she loved her kids.


"You think you're mourning? I'm mourning, too," she said.


The remarks angered relatives of the victims who moments earlier told the judge about the impact on their lives. Alayna's grandmother, Denise Jones, said it was "cowardly" for Hinojosa to "disregard these children like a bag of garbage."


She said she hopes Hinojosa in prison hears her children asking, "What did we do to you?" to deserve an awful death.


Hinojosa's attorney, Bryan Sherer, declined to comment.


Lawyer Ira Harris, reading a statement on behalf of Anthony's grandparents, said the boy often talked about being old enough to ride a bus to school.


"Even wild animals would go to great lengths to protect their young," Harris said.