Police said they found a “skinning” knife in a garbage can nearby and allegedly obtained footage that showed the toddler “falling from what appear[ed] to be the third floor and landing in the grass and rolling onto the concrete sidewalk.”
A Texas mother has been accused of killing her 17-month-old daughter after she allegedly dropped her off a hotel balcony.
According to a Galveston Police Department press release and affidavit, Channel Yonko, 30, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with capital murder for the death of her daughter, Hannah Yonko.
Police said they responded to reports of an “abandoned child” and “unresponsive child bleeding” on Wednesday morning. Upon arrival, officers found the toddler on the pavement wrapped in a blanket, and a “small pool of blood on the street,” Galveston police said. Authorities rushed the 17-month-old, who was later identified as Hannah, to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after.
As noted in the affidavit, detectives allegedly learned at the hospital that three puncture wounds were found on Hannah’s body.
After putting out a description for Hannah’s mother, police then reportedly found Channel, who was “crying” and asking the officer “for help.” According to the affidavit, Channel was “making comments about her daughter and that she might have been sick,” and took her in for questioning. Police said Channel did not give her name, but asked for a lawyer.
Channel’s sister, Mercedes Yonko, was interviewed at the station, per the document, and allegedly told officers she was staying in room 217 at the Beachfront Palms Hotel with her sister and niece. Police wrote that Mercedes said left the Beachfront Palms Hotel, Channel, and Hannah on Wednesday morning to talk to her fiancé at The Victorian. According to Mercedes, as noted in the affidavit, Channel “showed up to The Victorian, pushing a stroller,” but said she did not see Channel in the stroller.
Mercedes allegedly recalled that she was then going to return to the Beach Front Palms Hotel after she couldn’t find her fiancé, but Channel advised her not to.
“Mercedes found it odd that Channel would say that and stated that Channel said ‘don’t go back to the hotel’ several more times,” police wrote in the affidavit.
According to the doc, investigators found a trash bag in a garbage bin in the parking garage under the hotel near where Hannah’s body was discovered. In the bag, one of the detectives allegedly discovered a key card for room 217, a “skinning” knife, along with plastic beach toys, unopened kids snacks, and diapers.
In the affidavit, police said they obtained surveillance video from the hotel, which allegedly included footage of Channel pushing Hannah in a stroller in addition to the toddler’s fatal fall. According to the doc, the second video showed Hannah “falling from what appear[ed] to be the third floor and landing in the grass and rolling onto the concrete sidewalk where the baby was found.”
Police also said that while Hannah allegedly had three puncture wounds on her back, they reported that they were not found on her clothes or the blankets the child was wrapped in. As noted in the affidavit, police believe Channel “intentionally and knowingly” killed her daughter by “intentionally dropping” her off the balcony.
“This is a horrible crime. All children deserve to feel safe when around loved ones, especially with their own mother,” Galveston Police Department Chief Doug Balli said. “The Galveston Police Department is committed to bringing justice for Hannah and ensuring the safety of all children in our community.”
Channel is being held without bail at the Galveston County Jail.
If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
