Three-year-old Zianne Hall weighed 22 pounds when she died.
Her ribs were prominent and her skin was the color of a paper bag. Her hair was falling out and her eyes were surrounded by dark circles.
Zianne was barely alive when she was taken to a hospital on Oct. 13, 2007, suffering from malnutrition and extreme dehydration. She died 17 days later.
Tina Houcks, 38, who was Zianne’s caretaker, was sentenced Friday in Denver District Court to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.
“The core of the case remains quite simple,” Judge William W. Hood III said as he sentenced Houcks. “You accepted care and payment for the care of a 3-year-old child. You had ample reasons to suspect this child was deteriorating.”
The girl’s mother, 24-year-old Shaunee Hall, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for abusing Zianne.
Houcks and Hall became friends and lived together. Hall had asked Houcks to take care of Zianne while she worked as a prostitute and went to college, prosecutor Michelle Amico said.
“At the end of the day, they are both adults and there is no good logical explanation or reason they did not take this little girl to the hospital sooner than later,” Amico said. “Today, I am the only one who stands here on behalf of Zianne.”
Zianne was born with medical problems, including issues with her liver and kidneys. The ailments could not be ruled out in her death and it was never classified as a homicide, said Houcks’ attorney, Michael Vallejos.
Vallejos acknowledged his client should have taken Zianne to a doctor much sooner, but said the girl appeared to deteriorate over a matter of weeks and had pre-existing medical problems. He asked the judge to sentence Houcks to only 10 years.
“The issue is not one of abuse but one of neglect,” he said.
Houcks asked the judge for mercy.
“Your honor, this has been the hardest thing I have ever had to experience in my life and I will always regret it,” she said. ” I think I failed miserably because there is a life that is lost in this. The whole situation is tragic.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
