Florida mom pleads not guilty in death of daughters found in canal
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tinessa Hogan, who faces two counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of her daughters Destiny, 9, and Daysha, 7, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hogan, 36, didn’t appear in court Tuesday. Her attorney, Erin Veit, entered the plea on her behalf. Veit had no comment after the brief hearing.
Hogan was placed under psychiatric care after her daughters were found dead in a Lauderhill canal on June 22.
When Lauderhill police arrived at the sprawling working-class neighborhood off Sunrise Boulevard that day, on a call about a child’s body floating in the canal, the usual signs of a tragic, accidental drowning just weren’t there.
The little girl, later identified as Destiny, wore her hair in braids. She had denim shorts and a gray T-shirt. When police pulled her from the water and placed her on the grassy bank, they saw multiple scratches around the child’s mouth. There was a small laceration near the left side of the child’s lip, according to the police report.
And then across the canal in another Lauderhill neighborhood on that day in June, police saw a woman shrouded in a white blanket. She belted out Bible scriptures. One minute she was claiming to be the Devil and the next to be God, neighbors told the Sun Sentinel.
It would take many hours before police learned the woman was the girl’s mother — and by then the body of the second child, Daysha, had surfaced in the canal. It would take weeks before Hogan was arrested on July 14 and transferred to jail.
According to police, a search of the Hogan family home in the 2000 block of NW 59th Terrace in Lauderhill showed few signs of children living there. There were no photos anywhere in the house. Only childlike drawings hinted at their existence.
A woman told police that the night before the bodies of Destiny and Daysha surfaced in the canal, she saw Hogan swimming in the canal while holding a Bible. The woman said Hogan swam over to her and offered to baptize her children. The offer was declined.
The idea that Hogan is a religious zealot seemed palpable as more people shared observations. People said Hogan was the type to seemingly pop up out of nowhere to discuss the Bible.
Perhaps the most ominous was the report that a woman believed to be Hogan but possibly disguised in a black shiny wig with long curls was spotted a week before her girls died holding a sign saying, “Death is the only answer.”
The arrest warrant, Hogan’s arrest paperwork and the probable cause affidavit were sealed for 90 days by Broward Judge Tabitha Blackmon on July 14 while police continue their investigation. Sealing such documents after an arrest is rare.
Anyone who may have information about Destiny, Daysha and Tinessa Hogan is asked to call the Lauderhill Police Department at 954-497-4700. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
