ELLIS COUNTY, Texas — There is new information into what happened in the months leading up to the deaths of three children who were stabbed to death and two others who were injured in Italy in Ellis County.
It happened on March 3, 2023 in the afternoon.
CPS caseworkers feared something like this would happen and were trying to prevent a tragedy.
In court documents viewed by WFAA, on July 1, 2022, CPS filed a petition to terminate Shamaiya Hall’s parental rights stating, "there is a continuing danger to the physical health or safety of the children if returned to the parent.”
CPS involvement started a few days earlier on June 30, when police were called to Hall’s home in Forney, Texas.
According to police, Hall’s 5-year-old son went to their neighbors and "... stated their mother Shamaiya was dead on the floor.”
Police said the children were hysterical and Hall was unresponsive "... under the influence of some form of drugs and is intoxicated and... was disoriented and delusional.”
After first responders revived her, they said “… She was incoherent and mumbling.”
Police said the home was filthy and littered with dirty diapers.
Police said, “Shamaiya did not know the year or where she is located. Shamaiya was not answering questions asked, but it was like she was answering questions for a person not present, and Shamaiya cannot take care of herself and is unable to provide information on her children, and there are no relatives to take the children.”
She was taken to the hospital; the kids were taken to their grandmother’s home in Grand Prairie, and CPS was called.
When CPS interviewed the grandmother, she told them, "Shamaiya’s sister Troyshay had stabbed her 7-year-old daughter to death in Dallas in 2020 during a mental health crisis.”
WFAA covered the child’s death. The grandmother told CPS she "... now feared for Shamaiya’s kids.”
She told CPS that Shamaiya "... suffered from mental health disorders as well, and can be irrational.”
CPS filed petitions in Kaufman County in July to remove the children permanently, citing Hall’s drinking issues. CPS stated "... the department is concerned that due to Ms. Hall’s untreated and unmedicated mental health issues she places the children at risk which could cause serious injury or possible death when she becomes a threat to herself and others.”
When Hall was released from a hospital on July 1,2022, she called CPS and according to records, "... kept asking for her kids and said all she did was get drunk.”
But CPS did not return them. They were staying with relatives.
CPS ordered Hall and the children's fathers to have limited contact with the children and to only visit them at a CPS facility.
But that didn’t happen.
Police said Hall was alone with her kids on the day she allegedly stabbed them.
Documents show CPS was trying to find a permanent home for the children, and the final hearing was set for this July to sever Hall's and the children's fathers’ parental rights. But the children never made it there.