Authorities confirmed that a lesbian couple had been thrown with its 6 adopted children in a ravine

A California jury ruled that the deaths of Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children in a ravine in Mendocino, California, were not a coincidence as it was believed and that both women planned the way to die before the instability of the family.

The jurors deliberated for about an hour on Thursday before unanimously deciding that Jennifer and Sarah Hart committed suicide. March 26, 2018, in Mendocino County. The jury determined that the women had killed six children aged 12 to 19.

The authorities indicated that they thought the accident had been deliberate after Hear the story of one of the women doing online research on drowning issues.

The investigation of an investigating judge is generally used in cases involving deaths in custody or shots fired by officials for whom the public interest is high and where the need transparency is essential, said Capt. Gregory L. of Mendocino County Sheriff. Van Patten.

The deaths drew the country's attention, in part because women were previously accused of having used excessive force to reprimand their children in the past.

The body of Devonte Hart, a 15-year-old African American who had attracted attention when he had been photographed crying while kissing a policeman white at a 2014 event in Portland, Oregon.

"I think Jennifer and Sarah have succumbed to a lot of pressure"said Thursday Deputy Sheriff Shannon Barney. "Only many things have happened in their lives, to the point where they made the conscious decision to end their lives in this way and take the lives of their children."

The incident occurred several days after the Washington State authorities opened an investigation into the allegations. negligence.

The bodies of the two women were found in the vehicle, which crashed into a cliff located more than 250 km north of San Francisco.

The Hart family had left their home in Woodland, Wash., On March 23, after the visit of social workers that day.

Sarah Hart investigated suicides, drownings, doses of Benadryl and overdose methods on the Internet throughout the trip to Californiasaid Jake Slates, investigator of the California Highway Patrol.

He also asked if death by drowning would be painful. The authorities have retrieved the deleted searches on their phone.

"Both decided that this was going to be the end, "said Slates. "That they could not have their children, nobody would have them."

The bodies of the brothers Markis, Jeremiah and Abigail were foundthe same day near the car. A few weeks later, Ciera Hart's body was removed from the Pacific Ocean.

Hannah Hart was finally identified through a DNA match. Slates said Jennifer Hart, who rarely drank, had an alcohol level above the legal limit and He may have drunk to commit suicide.

For its part, Sarah Hart received 42 doses of Benadryl generic in your system and the kids also had high amounts of the drug that induces sleep in their bodies, he says.

A witness who was camping next to his vehicle said he heard the moment the car in which the family was traveling accelerated and fell into the cliff around 3 am on March 26th.

Domestic abuse has been reported

Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a charge of badault in Minnesota so she said that it was a scourge given to one of her children.

Oregon Child Protection officials also investigated the couple in 2013but they closed the file without taking any action.

Cases of abuse had already been reported on other occasions, includingNeighbor Bruce DeKalb said he learned by himself that mothers do not feed or abuse children, to those who adopted in Texas.

A few weeks before the fatal accident, 15-year-old Devonte started asking DeKalb for food, telling them that their mothers were punishing them with foodsaid the neighbor. It started once a day, but the punishment soon intensified and tripled, he added. "We decided to intervene with the help of a professional," he added.

DeKalb called social services on March 23 and agents arrived while Jennifer Hart was returning home after workwho did not open the door.

The next morning, the family and their car were gone. Social services attempted to visit them on March 26 and 27, but according to the Washington State Department of Health and Social Services, they were not able to contact them.

Jennifer Hart drove her family's vehicle up to the cliff about 54 hours after she and her family left home for the first time. On Thursday, an expert from the California Highway Patrol stated that the accident was intentional.

The 2003 GMC Yukon truck in which the eight family members traveled along the California coast road left the road and fell about 30 meters in the Fort Bragg area, where on Monday, March 26, five bodies were found, including Jennifer, who was driving the vehicle, and Sarah, both 38 years old.

"When the Harts left home, I do not think they knew what they were going to do at the time," Slates said.

He continued: "One of the last questions I would like to ask all of my witnesses would be, as far as I know Sarah and Jennifer Hart, would it be an act they could do? people who would say "If I can not have my children, can not anyone have them?" And most of the witnesses said:
& # 39; Yes, Jennifer would say that & # 39; or "Yes, it would be a decision that one or both would take".

If you suspect children have been abused, call the Childhelp (Childhelp) Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453.or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in more than 170 languages.