GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — Court documents reveal disturbing new details in the case of a 17-month-old girl who died after being found abandoned along the Seawall in Galveston on Wednesday.
The child’s mother, 30-year-old Channel Yonko, is charged with capital murder. She appeared in court on Thursday morning, where a magistrate judge denied bond.
The memorial next to the Kroger along the Seawall continues to grow. It’s where 17-month-old Hannah Yonko was found — in the middle of 59th Street — on Wednesday morning.
According to new details from charging documents, police say they have surveillance video from the second story at the Beach Front Palms Hotel, where it appears the toddler fell from the third floor balcony and then rolled onto the concrete sidewalk.
The documents also allege the baby had additional severe wounds. Investigators believe her mother killed her.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Mom charged after toddler was found near Kroger along Galveston Seawall and died, police say
Yonko was taken into custody shortly after Hannah was discovered on 59th Street. When an officer located her nearby, she was allegedly crying and asking for help and made comments about how her daughter might have been sick.
Handcuffed and wearing a dark green jumpsuit, Yonko appeared before a Galveston County magistrate judge on Thursday morning after spending the night in jail.
She was told to not say anything as she was read her rights, but instead, she asked to call an attorney.
“Can I receive my phone call?” Yonko asked in court.
“Ma’am, you’re here for magistrate court. Please just listen to the words that are told to you. Don’t ask any other questions unless you need to,” the magistrate judge replied.
Across the island, residents mourn for the 17-month-old daughter police say Yonko killed.
“It’s really upsetting news, and then I got to work and everybody was talking about it and it just upset me even more and I’m like – I have to go pay my respects,” UTMB pediatric nurse Jasmine Hernandez said.
Hernandez laid flowers and a doll at the growing memorial for Hannah. She said when she heard Hannah had been rushed to the hospital, she hoped they could save her.
According to court documents, Yonko and Hannah were staying at the hotel with Yonko’s sister.
ABC13 spoke to Brandon Uriba, who said he found Hannah while driving down 59th Street. He said he noticed the girl wrapped in a blanket.
“It was heartbreaking to see that. To see a little precious, beautiful, perfect little girl laying there lifeless,” Uriba said.
Police said they also found a trash bag at the hotel parking garage with Yonko’s room key, a knife, plastic sand toys, unused diapers, and unopened kid snacks.
People on the island are trying to understand how a mother could have killed her little girl, as police say she did.
“Especially somebody who was supposed to protect her from day one and then let her down,” Hernandez said.
