A California mother and stepfather allegedly waited 8 hours to get medical attention for their 8-year-old daughter as she experienced “serious medical distress” brought on by an asthma attack inside their “squalid” home, resulting in her death.
The San Jose couple, Gabrielle Hanson and Jacob Randolph, were charged with felony child neglect following the death of their daughter, Aurora, in May, according to a Tuesday, October 13 news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Aurora’s medical emergency occurred May 13 at her parents’ home, where she and her six siblings had been living with a cockroach infestation, mold, as well as garbage and pet feces littering the residence, the district attorney’s said.
When Hanson, 32, and Randolph, 39, sought medical attention for Aurora that day, “it was too late,” according to prosecutors.
She died four days later as a result of “lack of oxygen to the brain due to severe asthma with acute lung injury in the setting of human rhinovirus/enterovirus infection,” a medical examiner determined in September, prosecutors said.
Her manner of death was listed as a homicide, with medical neglect as a factor.
Hanson and Randolph knew the conditions of their home were dangerous to all seven children, as they had been previously warned by medical and social service workers, according to prosecutors.
When police and fire personnel responded to Aurora’s medical emergency, six other children, between 2 months old to 17 years old, were taken into the custody of the county’s Department of Family and Children Services, the district attorney’s office said.
An investigation into Aurora’s death allegedly revealed the couple hadn’t properly maintained her asthma equipment, including a respiratory mask found containing cockroaches.
In February 2025, when a relative brought Aurora to the emergency room for asthma and breathing difficulties, a bug fell off her shoe and a cockroach was found crawling on her, according to prosecutors.
“The girl told staff: ‘Oh yeah, bugs just crawl on me,’” the district attorney’s office said.
Aurora also said she was hungry and hadn’t eaten food while speaking with medical staff, who noticed she smelled of cat urine, appearing pale and significantly underweight, according to the office.
Detectives discovered Aurora and her siblings were living in dangerous home conditions since at least 2019, and that previous Department of Family and Children Services and police reports noted major cockroach infestations, prosecutors said.
“The infestation affected areas and items used by the children, including everyday household items, bedding, and medical equipment,” the district attorney’s office said.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen called for accountability from the county’s child welfare agency at a news conference on Aurora’s death, per the Los Angeles Times.
“There are serious questions about how this child and her siblings lived in this dangerous squalor for so long,” Rosen said in a statement.
In an emailed statement to Us in response to a request for comment, Dan Little, the director of Santa Clara County’s Social Services Agency, said, “As we learn more about the tragic death of Aurora Williams, two things are clear: the system failed her at multiple levels, and county social workers did not receive the full picture of the family’s situation from partner agencies.”
“Our responsibility now is to understand not only what happened to Aurora, but how we can work together to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again,” Little added.
The investigation into Aurora’s death also resulted in child sexual abuse charges filed against Gabrielle’s brother Jonathan Hanson, who lived in the home in connection with alleged abuse involving Gabrielle ’s stepchild, according to prosecutors. Gabrielle was charged in connection with her knowledge of the alleged abuse.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Gabrielle, Jonathan or Randolph had retained legal counsel. All three defendants appeared in court for an arraignment on Tuesday.
Gabrielle and Randolph were released under their own recognizance while Jonathan was ordered to be held without bail.
All three defendants are expected to appear in court next to enter their pleas on November 20.
