24-year-old woman slammed a 1-year-old boy she was watching while his mother was at work against a wall, killing him, and then claimed she “didn’t take my anger out on him;” sentenced
Michigan – In a deeply disturbing case in Michigan, a 24-year-old woman, identified as K. Hodges, has been sentenced after previously being found guilty of murdering a toddler she had been entrusted to care for. The conviction stems from the violent death of a 1-year-old boy, identified as K. Starks, a child Hodges had babysat on and off for months while his mother worked. Prosecutors charged her with murder following the discovery that she had thrown the boy against a wall, causing fatal head injuries.
Initially, Hodges faced a first-degree child abuse charge after the boy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. That charge was elevated to murder when the child died the next day from his injuries. The jury delivered its verdict earlier this year, marking the conclusion of a trial that exposed a chilling story of betrayal and violence.
The events unfolded in June 2022, inside Hodges’ home. She was watching the boy, as she had done many times before, being a neighbor and friend the mother trusted. That trust shattered when Hodges called the child’s mother, claiming something was wrong. When the mother arrived, she found her son lying on the floor, enduring seizure after seizure. Hodges insisted the toddler had suffered an allergic reaction to “eating soap,” but doctors quickly ruled that out after seeing the severity of his injuries.
Medical staff at the local hospital discovered blunt force trauma to the head, bleeding from the ears, and damage so severe it required emergency brain surgery. Investigators later determined the boy had been violently thrown against a wall and shaken with force. Police arrested Hodges within hours after realizing her explanation did not match the child’s condition. Detectives said she later admitted to hitting the toddler, telling them, “Maybe I hit him too hard, but I didn’t take my anger out on him.”
On June 15, 2022, Starks succumbed to his injuries. Following his death, prosecutors upgraded the charges from child abuse to felony murder. During the investigation, Hodges told officers that “it was not supposed to happen,” attempting to minimize her actions despite her confession that she had caused the fatal harm. After multiple court delays—caused in part by her defense team’s efforts to suppress her police statements—the case proceeded to trial. In July 2024, a jury deliberated for just two hours before convicting Hodges on one count of felony murder and one count of first-degree child abuse.
Judge D. Druzinski handed down the maximum sentence, ordering Hodges to spend the rest of her life in a state correctional facility without the possibility of parole for the murder of Starks. In addition, she was sentenced to serve 15 to 40 years on the child abuse charge. During sentencing, the court reviewed Hodges’s repeated attempts to shift blame and the disturbing brutality of the assault. Prosecutors emphasized that she had been a trusted caretaker, entrusted with the safety of a child whose mother viewed her as family. That trust, they said, “was repaid with violence.”
Prosecutor P. Lucido said in a statement, “The defendant’s actions resulted in the tragic death of an innocent child, and the court has imposed a life sentence without the possibility of parole to hold her fully accountable. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family, whose lives have been forever changed by this senseless act. The justice system has a duty to protect the most vulnerable, and today’s sentence underscores that duty.”
The boy’s mother, who had believed Hodges’s initial story, later described her heartbreak in a statement to local media. “I feel so betrayed because I trusted her. I would have done anything for her and her daughter,” she said, adding that her son’s death has left a wound no sentence can heal. For the victim’s family, the case’s conclusion brought justice but little comfort. The sentence ensures that Hodges will never again walk free, but the child’s absence remains an unbearable reminder of how a trusted babysitter turned a place of care into a place of cruelty.
