GALVESTON, Texas – Child Protective Services confirmed to KPRC 2 that they have been previously involved with the mother who is now charged in her daughter’s death.
Channel Yonko, 30, of Houston, was arrested and charged Wednesday in the death of her daughter, Hannah Yonko. She is currently being held in the Galveston County Jail without bond.
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CPS stated that Yonko’s prior CPS history did not involve 17-month-old Hannah, but did not give any other details.
What happened
On Wednesday at 9:45 a.m., Hannah was found unresponsive and bleeding on 59th St. between a grocery store and a hotel. Officers said they also found a white blanket partially on the sidewalk, hair on the street, and a small pool of blood nearby.
GPD Chief Doug Balli said that the child was still alive when she was found, and she was rushed to the emergency center at UTMB Health’s John Sealy Hospital.
At 10:34 a.m., she was pronounced dead.
According to court documents, Hannah, who had three puncture wounds, died from traumatic injuries, allegedly inflicted on her by her mother. The child had also suffered injuries from a fall.
A short time after finding Hannah, court documents say her mother, Channel, was seen leaving the location where her daughter had been found, crying and asking for help.
Channel was then taken to the police department to be questioned.
Investigators said Channel’s sister, Mercedes Yonko, also came to the police department and was interviewed. During her interview, Mercedes told investigators that her sister Channel, and Channel’s daughter, Hannah, were staying at the Beach Front Palms Hotel in Galveston. She said they had come to visit her.
On Wednesday, Mercedes said she left the Beach Front Palms hotel to meet her fiancé while Channel stayed behind with her daughter. Mercedes later stated that Channel arrived at her location pushing a stroller, but Hannah wasn’t inside. Mercedes said when she asked about Hannah and said she was going back to their hotel, her sister repeatedly told her not to return to the hotel, which she found suspicious.
According to court documents, officers said they found a trash bag in the parking garage under the Beach Front Palms Hotel containing a key card, a knife with a black handle, sand toys, diapers, and kids’ snacks. They also said they retrieved surveillance video showing Channel pushing a stroller in the hotel lobby. The footage captured the child’s foot moving in the stroller, and then shortly after, another video showed the child falling from what appeared to be the third-floor balcony, landing on the grass, and rolling onto the concrete sidewalk where she was later found.
According to court documents, Channel refused to speak to officers, telling them she wanted an attorney.