SAN JOSE — Police have arrested the mother and stepfather of an 8-year-old girl whose fatal asthma attack in May spurred a rare homicide declaration and the revelation of chronic neglect allegations that detailed a vermin-infested home, child hunger and lackluster response from county officials already under scrutiny for their handling of critical child welfare cases, according to authorities and jail records.
Gabrielle Hanson, 32, and Jacob Randolph, 39, both residents of the East San Jose home where Aurora Williams was found unresponsive May 13, were arrested Monday in connection with the death of Aurora, who was taken off life support four days later.
Jail records show Hanson was booked into the Elmwood women’s jail in Milpitas on Monday evening, and was being held in lieu of $210,000 bail. Randolph was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail and was being held in lieu of $160,000.
The San Jose Police Department confirmed that the two were arrested on suspicion of “crimes related to child endangerment likely to produce great bodily harm or death.” The District Attorney’s Office also announced that they were scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Aurora Williams, 8, in a photo taken during a school field trip last year. Her death in May after an asthma attack in her cockroach-infested East San Jose home has spurred more demands for an overhaul of Santa Clara County’s child welfare agency. (Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Hanson)
Last month, the county Office of the Medical Examiner classified Aurora’s death as a homicide after finding the girl died of a severe asthma attack that deprived her brain of oxygen while fighting a viral infection that had cold and flu-like symptoms. “Medical neglect” was also listed as a significant factor.
The homicide declaration stemmed from a “failure to provide the necessary medical care to her on the day she became unresponsive,” Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Jordan said in a statement last month.
In an Oct. 1 interview with this news organization, Hanson said her daughter’s death stemmed from a medical emergency, not medical neglect. She defended the care she and her husband provided to Aurora that morning, saying that Aurora’s attack seemed less severe than past attacks when they took her to the hospital.
Her husband administered two medications, but neither seemed to be working, Randolph told this news organization. And Hanson, who spent most of the morning in bed with their 2-month-old, said she reminded Aurora that morning to keep the nebulizer that turns her liquid medication into a breathable mist affixed to her face.
When Randolph rushed into the bedroom holding the limp child, Hanson said she called 911 and was so panicked that she struggled to follow a dispatcher’s CPR instructions. She recalled administering rescue breaths while Randolph performed chest compressions, all to no avail.
Since Aurora died, county records obtained by this news organization describing visits from the county Department of Family and Children’s Services portrayed the one-story house on Lancelot Lane as being in squalor, detailing the prevalence of flies, cockroaches, dog feces and cat urine. The descriptions also illustrated how pet hair and dander covered the furniture and dishes piled up in fetid water, all factors suspected of inflaming Aurora’s asthma.
The home was also crowded, with seven children and six adults said to be living there alongside at least three dogs and five cats when Aurora had her medical emergency.
About 15 months before she died, records show that Aurora visited a hospital for asthma issues and that someone observed a cockroach crawling out from under the girl’s back, and Aurora dismissing it as a normal occurrence.
The records also show that Aurora or her siblings were the subject of at least eight DFCS referrals from teachers, police and medical personnel voicing concerns about the squalid home conditions and reputed malnutrition. The latter claim stems from documented statements from the children who were seen hoarding food at school and complaining of going days without eating.
Every referral was deemed unfounded or inconclusive, and the family welfare agency reportedly offered nominal help including $100 for bug foggers. It was only after Aurora was taken out of the home in grave condition that the residence was declared “unlivable,” and the six other children living there were placed in foster care.
After her death was ruled a homicide, and more details of Aurora’s living conditions surfaced publicly, the Mount Pleasant Elementary School District superintendent and county supervisors Sylvia Arenas and Betty Duong condemned the tumultuous leadership of DFCS, with Arenas saying “we are failing massively.” Agency and county executives similarly acknowledged their collective failures with Aurora.
But in her interview, Hanson said she “did everything I could” while grappling with poverty and mothering a newborn. She refused to place blame on any person or entity.
She had explanations for the concerns about her children being malnourished and underfed, saying her children habitually skipped breakfast and hoarded snacks at school like any child offered them would, and said Aurora sometimes faked illness to avoid school.
Her death has added to a tragic list from recent years of child deaths that intersected with county family and child welfare supervision. The county has been ordered by the state to implement reforms after the the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of infant Phoenix Castro, who was kept with her drug-abusing father despite concerns about her safety with him. A month before Aurora died, 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez died after he was placed in a relative’s home, where his teenage cousin is now accused of sexually assaulting him, and despite the adult guardian having a 2014 felony child endangerment conviction for driving drunk with an infant in the vehicle.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.