ANTHONY and ALAYNA HINOJOSA - 4 and 3 yo (2009) - Huron (SW of Detroit) MI

A 29-year-old Huron Township woman has been charged with murder in the burning deaths of her two young children.Wayne
County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged Sharon Hinojosa with two counts of
first -and- second-degree murder as well as arson of a dwelling
Tuesday. If convicted, she faces life in prison.
Hinojosa was arrested Saturday, a day after her children were killed in
her boyfriend's Huron Township trailer home on Clairet Street.Hinojosa
escaped the fire with her 1-year-old son, Aiden. Neighbors were unable
to save 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old Alayna Hinojosa."Most
of us, the parents we all know, would run into a firing inferno to save
their children and not act as this defendant allegedly did," said
Worthy.Worthy said she believes Sharon Hinojosa intentionally
left the two children that were not fathered by her boyfriend, Jason
Whistler, behind."Me and my wife, she can't have kids. We would
have taken those kids, no problem," said a neighbor Joseph Dickes. "All
she had to do was ask. It didn't have to come to that."Howard Caudill,
the father of 4 year-old victim Anthony Hinojosa, spoke out Tuesday for the first time since the tragedy."You
can't imagine what I'm going through. It's just terrible," Caudill
said. "(Anthony) was full of life, funny and smart and full of life,
and so was Alayna. It ain't all about Anthony. It's about her too. Them
babies, they found them together and they'll be together for eternity."When
asked about the charges against Anthony's mother, Sharon Hinojosa,
Caudill said, "You're a sick person to do something like that, a very
sick person. Them babies didn't deserve that; they didn't deserve that.
"The community was in disbelief Tuesday after hearing that
the children's mother was charged in the heinous crime."I
think she deserves it. I think it's a shame what she did to her
children… It's just sickening," said another neighbor, Linda Page.
Neighbor Jim Quillan said that after Sharon Hinojosa escaped the fire around
3:15 a.m. Friday she banged on his door for help.Quillan said he and another neighbor
ran over to the home and began breaking out windows in an attempt to save the children."When
we busted the windows, we could hear the kids screaming. It was bad,"
Quillan said. "There was so much smoke and fire, we couldn't get them
out. It was devastating. To know those kids were in there and we
couldn't get them out.""As a mother, I can't imagine how it must
have been for those two children to lose their lives in that firing
inferno as they burned to death," said Worthy. "It has to be one of the
worst ways to die."Quillan claims that Sharon Hinojosa
intentionally misled him and other neighbors who were trying to save
the children from the flames.“If she would have told us the right window from the get-go,
we would probably have those kids here today,” said Quillan.
Prosecutors said they believe Sharon Hinojosa acted alone and
nobody else was involved in the arson.Worthy said it's up to the police to decide
when Sharon Hinojosa will be arraigned.She is currently in the hospital.
Worthy said she was admitted after drinking rubbing alcohol.Anthony
and Alayna Hinojosa will be buried together. Visitation for the
children will be Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Voran Funeral
Home. The service will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.A
memorial fund at the Bank of America in Taylor has been set up to help
the family pay for the children's funeral. Money can be sent to the
Alayna and Anthony Hinojosa fund.Funds for the burial are being collected at
he Leo's Coney Island on Telegraph Road in Taylor, Mich.Also,
a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for the funeral is being held Tuesday
night at the Picture Perfect restaurant on Beech Daly Street.

A woman accused of setting a trailer fire that killed two of her
children is competent to stand trial, Wayne County Circuit Judge Daniel
Hathaway ruled Thursday.
A trial for Sharon Hinojosa, 29, of Huron Township is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 18.
She is charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and arson in the Oct. 9
deaths of 3-year-old Alayna Hinojosa and 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa.
Hinojosa faces life in prison if convicted.
A competency evaluation was first requested Oct. 14 when her case was in 34th District Court in Romulus.
Results from that evaluation through a forensic center
for psychiatry took several months, delaying a preliminary examination of the evidence against her.
The center’s results were returned Feb. 8 and said Hinojosa was competent.
The preliminary examination then was held March 24 before 34th District Judge Brian Oakley.
Hinojosa was bound over for trial to Wayne County Circuit
Court, where another competency evaluation was requested. The results
of that evaluation were made public Thursday.
Hinojosa escaped the 3 a.m. fire on Clairet Road with her 1-year-old son, Aiden.
Neighbors testified that they tried frantically to rescue the other two children, but were unsuccessful.
Hinojosa was arrested the next day after questioning by Huron police.
Another child of hers was not there at the time.

Father of sole child to survive mobile home fire speaks out
Published: Sunday, October 25, 2009

HURON TWP. — Justin Whisler’s gut feeling tells him there is no way Sharon Hinojosa, his former girlfriend, could be guilty of the murder charges she faces in the deaths of two of her children.

But the thoughts consuming his mind since he learned that their 1-year-old son, Aiden, might have been a target as well tell him his gut feeling could be very wrong.

Whisler hasn’t spoken publicly since the two children died in the fire at 3 a.m. Oct. 9, but he sat down with The News-Herald Newspapers for an interview Wednesday afternoon with information that might shock many.

An investigative report on the case validates much of Whisler’s account.

Hinojosa, 29, has been charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of Alayna Hinojosa, 3, and Anthony Hinojosa, 4. Whisler, 25, is not the father of those children, but is Aiden’s father.

Whisler said his son was pulled out of Hinojosa’s burning car near the home in Huron Estates Mobile Home Park on Clairet Road during the fire.

Whisler said Aiden was discovered in the parked car by a 16-year-old girl close to the family who lives in Huron Estates.

According to the father, a cigarette was found sitting inside the gas tank cubby hole of Hinojosa’s car.

Whisler said some form of accelerant, which he suspects might have been tiki torch oil, had been poured on the front end of the vehicle. He said he has no idea why his son was separated from the other children, but he believes Aiden’s life might have been in jeopardy, too.

http://thenewsherald.com/articles/2009/10/25/news/doc4ae31ad36b7f8682133306.txt?viewmode=2

Mother's challenge of confession denied by judge
Posted On: 10/7/2010
HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A judge has denied a motion by a Michigan woman challenging her confession in the arson deaths of her two young children.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office says Thursday that Circuit Court Judge Daniel Hathaway also denied Sharon Hinojosa's (hee-noh-HOH'-sah's) challenge to her competency in waiving her Miranda rights.

She is charged with felony murder and arson, and faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the murder charge. A jury trial is to start Oct. 18.

Hinojosa is accused of setting a fire Oct. 9, 2009 in her boyfriend's Huron Township trailer, about 20 miles southwest of Detroit. Hinojosa's 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son were killed. Authorities say she fled with another child.

http://www.9and10news.com/Category/Story/?id=259712&cID=2

Prosecutors deciding whether to charge Huron Township mom accused of killing kids in fire
Published: Monday, October 12, 2009, 1:59 PM Updated: Monday, October 12, 2009, 2:04 PM
The Associated Press By The Associated Press

Prosecutors are reviewing a warrant request against 29-year-old Sharon Hinojosa, of Huron Township, in the fire deaths of her two young children.

Wayne County prosecutor's office spokeswoman Maria Miller says possible charges against Hinojosa were being looked at Monday.

Hinojosa was arrested Saturday, a day after 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old Alayna Hinojosa were killed in her boyfriend's Huron Township trailer home.

Sharon Hinojosa escaped the fire with her 1-year-old son. Neighbors were unable to save her two older children.

Neighbors said Sharon Hinojosa and 25-year-old Justin Whisler were going through a breakup.

The Associated Press wasn't able to determine whether Hinojosa was represented by an attorney.

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/prosecutors_deciding_whether_t.html

Still no charges against Sharon Hinojosa, accused of killing two children in fire
Published: Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 9:37 AM Updated: Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 9:38 AM
Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com By Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com

Prosecutors still have not decided to press charges against a Huron Township mother accused of setting fire to her mobile home Friday, killing two of her children while she escaped with a third.

Instead, Sharon Hinojosa, 29, remains in police custody, and prosecutors aren't talking.

A decision will have to be made today, however.

Police took Hinojosa into custody on Saturday and, as the Detroit Free Press points out, must release her if charges are not filed within 72 hours of the arrest.

Hinojosa escaped the fire with her 1-year-old son, but 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna died in the fire.

Pauline Zack, 18, who baby-sat for the family for the past year, said Hinojosa "couldn't even spank her own kids or tell them no, let alone do anything to hurt them."

Neighbors and relatives said Friday that Hinojosa was in the process of breaking up with her boyfriend, Justin Whisler, 25, father of the youngest child.

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/still_no_charges_against_sharo.html

Sharon Hinojosa, mom of two kids killed in mobile home fire, charged with murder
Published: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 8:31 AM Updated: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 9:24 AM
The Associated Press By The Associated Press
fire-huron-township-mobile-home-sharon-hinojosa.JPGFox 2

A woman intentionally set a fire at her boyfriend's mobile home in suburban Detroit, killing two of her young children while fleeing with a third, a prosecutor said Tuesday in filing murder charges.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy did not specify a motive, saying only that Sharon Hinojosa "knowingly left the children who were not fathered by her boyfriend."

Hinojosa, 29, was charged with arson, second-degree murder and felony murder, which is murder committed during another crime. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

"This should send chills up the spine of every person. I can't imagine the abject horror of the last seconds of their young lives," Worthy said.

She said Hinojosa set the fire around 3 a.m. Friday in Huron Township, about 20 miles southwest of Detroit, killing daughter Alayna Hinojosa, 3, and son Anthony Hinojosa, 4. Hinojosa escaped with a 1-year-old son, Worthy said, while Alayna and Anthony remained trapped inside.

"I cannot tell you how disgusting this case has been. ... It has to be one of the worst ways to die," the prosecutor said.

Hinojosa, meanwhile, was in a hospital after drinking rubbing alcohol. Worthy would not provide details about how or when it happened, but Hinojosa has been in custody since the weekend.

Her attorney, Mike Granzeier, declined to comment on the case.

Hinojosa's arraignment was not immediately set. A judge may have to conduct it at the hospital, Huron Township Police Chief Greg Hinzmann said. Her condition was not disclosed but is not considered life-threatening.

A neighbor, Joe Dickes, said he tried to rescue the children, first through the door and then through windows, but flames were too intense.

"We heard the screams inside. There was nothing we could do," he said, referring to himself and another neighbor.

"Sharon was running up and down the street. She didn't care," Dickes recalled. "She said, 'I couldn't wake them up.' Come on, you can throw them out the door."

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/sharon_hinojosa_mom_of_two_kid.html

Sharon Hinojosa Set Fire to Her Home, Burning Two Children to Death
Comments (26)
By Pete Kotz in Bad Moms, Child Abuse, arson, homicide
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 12:40 pm
Mom left 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa in the burning trailer home
At 3 a.m., according to police, Sharon Hinojosa purposely set fire to her mobile home in Huron Township, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. She grabbed her 1-year-old son, but left her other two children -- ages 3 and 4 -- behind.

Joe Dickes and another neighbor saw the fire and tried to rescue the kids. But they couldn't get through the door or the windows; the fire was out of control. "We heard the screams inside," he told the Associated Press. "There was nothing we could do."

What shocked him more is that their mother didn't seem worried that her two kids were burning to death. "Sharon was running up and down the street. She didn't care. She said, 'I couldn't wake them up.' Come on, you can throw them out the door...

Sharon Hinojosa and boyfriend Justin Whisler with the three kids
Among the dead were daughter Alayna Hinojosa, 3, and son Anthony Hinojosa, 4. Mother Sharon, meanwhile, was hospitalized for drinking rubbing alcohol, but is expected to recover.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged mom, 29, with arson and murder. And if you read between the lines, it seems Sharon no longer wanted the two older kids. Worthy asserts she "knowingly left the children who were not fathered by her boyfriend... This should send chills up the spine of every person. I can't imagine the abject horror of the last seconds of their young lives."

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/10/sharon_hinojosa_set_fire_to_he.php

Police: Mom of 2 kids dead in Huron Township fire arrested
Published: Saturday, October 10, 2009, 11:56 PM Updated: Sunday, October 11, 2009, 9:56 AM
The Associated Press By The Associated Press

fire-huron-township-mobile-home-sharon-hinojosa.JPGFox 2Sharon Hinojosa poses in a photograph with Justin Whisler. Anthony Hinojosa (left) and Alayna Hinojosa (right) died in the fire.

HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The mother of two children who died in a fire at a mobile home near Detroit has been arrested in the deaths, police said Saturday.

Huron Township police said in a statement Saturday that 29-year-old Sharon Hinojosa was arrested in the deaths and arson of the mobile home, and the Wayne County prosecutor's office would decide whether charges would be brought. No additional information was released, and police said they didn't know whether Hinojosa had a lawyer.

The trailer was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived Friday morning in the Wayne County community about 20 miles southwest of Detroit. Neighbors tried to save 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old Alayna Hinojosa but couldn't.

Hinojosa escaped with a 1-year-old son.

Pauline Zack, 18, who baby-sat for the family for the past year, said Hinojosa "couldn't even spank her own kids or tell them no, let alone do anything to hurt them."

Neighbors and relatives said Friday that Hinojosa was in the process of breaking up with her boyfriend, Justin Whisler, 25.

Whisler's mother, Cindi Whisler, said her family is devastated.

"This is the most tragic situation that could ever happen to someone in their lifetime," she said Saturday. "I'm in shock over the whole thing."


http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/police_mom_of_2_kids_dead_in_h.html

Hundreds gather to remember Huron Township children killed in mobile home fire
Published: Saturday, October 17, 2009, 5:32 PM Updated: Saturday, October 17, 2009, 6:26 PM
Aaron Foley | MLive.com By Aaron Foley | MLive.com
fire-huron-township-mobile-home-sharon-hinojosa.JPGFox 2
About 350 relatives and friends gathered at a funeral service for two young children killed in a mobile home fire that police say was deliberately set by their mother.

29-year-old Sharon Hinojosa sits in jail with arson and murder charges related to the deaths of her 3-year-old daughter Alayna and her 4-year-old son Anthony. She faces life in prison.

According to investigators, Hinojosa deliberately set the fire to her mobile home, escaping with her 1-year-old son but leaving the older children inside to die. Witnesses who heard the children screaming tried to rescue them to no avail.

Hinojosa's boyfriend, who owned the home, is the father of the youngest child but not the older two, something Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said was key to the case.

The News-Herald reports that bouquets of balloons blew in the wind outside the funeral home where the service was held. The children were buried together.

"There were a lot of tears," said one woman who preferred to remain unidentified.

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/hundreds_gather_to_remember_hu.html

Mom of kids killed in trailer home fire led a troubled life, according to friends and relatives
Published: Saturday, October 24, 2009, 10:56 AM Updated: Saturday, October 24, 2009, 11:36 AM
Aaron Foley | MLive.com By Aaron Foley | MLive.com

Despite reports that Sharon Hinojosa intentionally killed her children that she didn't share with her boyfriend, those that knew her say she is incapable of such a thing.

Hinojosa faces charges of arson and felony murder after police and prosecutors say she set her mobile home ablaze with two of her children inside. 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna perished while Hinojosa and her 1-year-old son escaped.

The father of the 1-year-old, Justin Whisler, owned the mobile home. The Detroit News reports that Whisler and Hinojosa broke up, and he evicted her when he found a new girlfriend.

From The Detroit News, Oct. 24: Acquaintances said they couldn't imagine her intentionally hurting her children. "She loved those kids more than anyone or anything," said Pauline Zack, a frequent baby sitter. Hinojosa's feelings about her boyfriend were another matter. Besides allegedly burning his trailer, she apparently tried to implicate him in the crime, said her friend Misty Dickes. Two days before the fire, she asked Dickes to temporarily take her children, telling her that Whisler was threatening to firebomb the home, said Dickes. "I figured she would eventually kill him but not the kids," said Dickes' husband, Joe.

Still, when Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced charges against Hinojosa, a determining factor was that Hinojosa "knowingly left the children who were not fathered by her boyfriend."

Hinojosa was invovled in a string of relationships which produced four children. "She was always looking for someone new to love her," said her cousin, Bobbie Lynn May.

Her relationship with Whisler was particularly disastrous. When Whisler didn't come home, Hinojosa and the children drove around looking for him. On one occassion, Hinojosa tracked him down at a friend's house and screamed for him to come outside before breaking a window at the home.

She then slashed the tire of his car. A misdemeanor charge against her for destruction of property was pending at the time of the fire.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/10/mom_of_kids_killed_in_trailer.html

Ex-boyfriend of Sharon Hinojosa, mom accused of killing kids in mobile home fire, reveals more details of day of fire
Published: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 11:29 AM Updated: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 12:19 PM
Aaron Foley | MLive.com By Aaron Foley | MLive.com
fire-huron-township-mobile-home-sharon-hinojosa.JPGFox 2Justin Whisler and Sharon Hinojosa pose with 1-year-old Aiden, 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna.
The ex-boyfriend of a woman accused of killing two of her children by setting their mobile home ablaze says his 1-year-old son was also at risk of losing his life in a burning car.

Although it has been reported that two of Sharon Hinojosa's children -- 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna -- died in a mobile home fire, Justin Whisler says Hinojosa's car was also torched that day and the couple's 1-year-old son, Aiden, was inside.

“The car door was not locked, but it was on fire,” Whisler tells The News-Herald. “He was taken to a hospital and ended up with one of her relatives.”

Whisler owned the mobile home and shared it with Hinojosa and the children. He is not the father of the two children killed.

After several arguments, Whisler and Hinojosa broke up and he evicted her from the property shortly before the arson. Hinojosa is also charged with felony murder, or murder that occurs during another crime.

Whisler suspects tiki torch oil was poured on the hood of Hinojosa's car, and a cigarette was found in the cubby hole of the car's gas tank.

He said Hinojosa called him three times, and on the third time she said that someone firebombed the trailer but Aiden was not inside.

Now, Aiden is in foster care and Whisler is working to get custody of him. Whisler says he doesn't believe Hinojosa would intentionally harm their children and showed no indication of violence toward the children in the past.

Since the incident, however, Whisler says his reputation has been damaged. Early in the investigation, he says many believed he was responsible for the fire and was receiving death threats.

Whisler has not been in contact with Hinojosa since.

“I don’t want to talk to her or see her. I don’t have any questions for her. If she didn’t want them, why not just give them away?”

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/10/ex-boyfriend_of_sharon_hinojos.html

Case against Sharon Hinojosa, Huron Township mom accused of killing two kids in fire, progresses
Published: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 3:04 PM Updated: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 5:07 PM
Aaron Foley | MLive.com By Aaron Foley | MLive.com
sharon-hinojosa.jpgFox 2Justin Whisler and Sharon Hinojosa pose with 1-year-old Aiden, 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna.
Witnesses told a judge that a woman accused of deliberately setting a fire that killed two of her children that on the day they died, she seemed unresponsive and unconcerned.

Neighbors and relatives of Sharon Hinojosa were called to testify as prosecutors seek to prove that the fire at her mobile home was no accident.

As previously reported, 29-year-old Hinojosa was arrested after the fire killed her two oldest children, 4-year-old Anthony and 3-year-old Alayna. She escaped the blaze with her 1-year-old son, Aiden.

Before the fire, Hinojosa had broken up with her boyfriend, Justin Whisler, who is the father of Aiden but not the father of the oldest two. Prosecutors believe that Hinojosa wanted to save her relationship with Whisler by killing the other two children.

WDIV, March 17: Hinojosa's former neighbor, Joseph Dickes, took the stand Wednesday and told the court that Hinojosa purposely led him and another neighbor who were trying to save the kids to the wrong bedroom."She was in the front of the trailer watching us trying to get in -- nowhere near those kids' bedroom," said Dickes. "At this time, we had already wasted ten minutes on the wrong side of the trailer."


The News-Herald, March 18: Dickes said Hinojosa was on her cellphone a good deal of the time. His wife, Misty, also testified. She and her daughter often baby-sat for the children. In a low, soft voice, Misty Dickes said Hinojosa confided in her that she would have fewer problems without the kids.


The Detroit Free Press reports that Hinojosa's case has been moved to Wayne County Circuit Court and she will appear before a judge on March 24.

http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/print.html?entry=/2010/03/case_against_sharon_hinojosa_h.html

Mom Arraigned In Children's Death
Grieving Father Speaks Out
POSTED: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
UPDATED: 6:00 pm EDT October 14, 2009
DETROIT -- A 29-year-old Huron Township woman was arraigned on several murder charges in connection with the burning death of her two young children in a mobile home fire.

Magistrate Allen Hindman of the 34th District Court arraigned Sharon Hinojosa from a hospital bed at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday on two counts of first -and- second-degree murder as well as arson of a dwelling Tuesday. If convicted, she faces life in prison.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worth said Hinojosa was hospitalized after she drank rubbing alcohol.

Hindman did not set bail for Hinojosa. Also, no preliminary date was set.

A judge has granted Hinojosa's lawyer's request for a gag order in the case. A gag order will prevent anyone involved in the criminal case from talking about it.

"Anybody on the jury that is a mom, a grandma a dad, they are going to feel the same way I do. Why?" said nearby resident Wilma Wamsher.

Raw Video: Charges Listed Against Mom In Fire Deaths

Hinojosa was arrested Saturday, a day after her children were killed in her boyfriend's Huron Township trailer home on Clairet Street.

Hinojosa escaped the fire with her 1-year-old son, Aiden. Neighbors were unable to save 4-year-old Anthony Hinojosa and 3-year-old Alayna Hinojosa.

"Most of us, the parents we all know, would run into a firing inferno to save their children and not act as this defendant allegedly did," said Worthy.

Worthy said she believes Sharon Hinojosa intentionally left the two children that were not fathered by her boyfriend, Jason Whistler, behind.

"Me and my wife, she can't have kids, we would have taken those kids, no problem," said neighbor Joseph Dickes. "All she had to do was ask. It didn't have to come to that."

Howard Caudill, the father of 4 year-old victim Anthony Hinojosa, spoke out Tuesday for the first time since the tragedy.

"You can't imagine what I'm going through. It's just terrible," Caudill said. "(Anthony) was full of life, funny and smart and full of life, and so was Alayna. It ain't all about Anthony. It's about her too. Them babies, they found them together and they'll be together for eternity."

When asked about the charges against Anthony's mother, Sharon Hinojosa, Caudill said, "You're a sick person to do something like that, a very sick person. Them babies didn't deserve that; they didn't deserve that."

The community was in disbelief Tuesday after hearing that the children's mother was charged in connection with their deaths.

"I think she deserves it. I think it's a shame what she did to her children… It's just sickening," said neighbor Linda Page.

Neighbor Jim Quillan said that after Sharon Hinojosa escaped the fire around 3:15 a.m. Friday she banged on his door for help.

Quillan said he and another neighbor ran over to the home and began breaking out windows in an attempt to save the children.

"When we busted the windows, we could hear the kids screaming. It was bad," Quillan said. "There was so much smoke and fire, we couldn't get them out. It was devastating. To know those kids were in there and we couldn't get them out."

"As a mother, I can't imagine how it must have been for those two children to lose their lives in that firing inferno as they burned to death," said Worthy. "It has to be one of the worst ways to die."

Quillan claims that Sharon Hinojosa intentionally misled him and other neighbors who were trying to save the children from the flames.

“If she would have told us the right window from the get-go, we would probably have those kids here today,” said Quillan.

Prosecutors said they believe Sharon Hinojosa acted alone and nobody else was involved in the arson.

Anthony and Alayna Hinojosa will be buried together. Visitation for the children will be Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Voran Funeral Home. The service will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

A memorial fund at the Bank of America in Taylor has been set up to help the family pay for the children's funeral. Money can be sent to the Alayna and Anthony Hinojosa fund.

Funds for the burial are being collected at the Leo's Coney Island on Telegraph Road in Taylor, Mich.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21282575/detail.html

ROMULUS: Woman found competent to stand trial in fire that killed two children
Published: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
By Jackie Harrison-Martin

ROMULUS — Sharon Hinojosa has been found competent to stand trial for murder in the deaths of two of her children in a mobile home fire in October, according to an official at 34th District Court.

Hinojosa, 29, is charged with two counts of felony murder and second-degree murder. She was scheduled to appear before Judge Brian Oakley at 9 a.m. yesterday for a preliminary examination of the evidence against her.

The exam was adjourned after Hinojosa’s attorney was diagnosed over the weekend with pneumonia.

The exam has been rescheduled for 9 a.m. March 17.

Six witnesses were expected to be called to testify.

The exam initially had been delayed until a psychiatric exam of Hinojosa could be completed and reviewed.

Hinojosa was arrested after a raging fire at 3 a.m. Oct. 9 engulfed a mobile home in Huron Township Estates. The mobile home was owned by Hinojosa’s then on-again-off-again boyfriend, Jason Whisler. They have an infant son, Aiden, together.

Hinojosa escaped the fire with Aiden, but prosecutors believe she intentionally left two of her other children, Alayna, 3, and Anthony, 4, inside.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said at an Oct. 13 press conference that Hinojosa knowingly turned the mobile home into an inferno.

Witnesses at the scene told police Hinojosa told them the wrong window where the children were inside the fiery mobile unit and they were unable to get them out.

Before the fire, Whisler was evicting Hinojosa from the trailer, which he owned. Family and friends appear to agree that the two had a turbulent relationship, but many said Hinojosa gave every appearance of being a good mother.

A Wayne County judge issued a gag order in the case to prevent those who might have to testify from talking to the media.

Members of the Hinojosa family said they are devastated by the deaths of the two children and the fact that their mother has been charged.

Early on, family members had little information about the events that occurred that day and one family member said they can’t accept the idea that Hinojosa deliberately set the mobile home on fire.

Many of them are looking for answers to their questions.

http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2010/02/16/news/doc4b7b0338baa53232035499.txt?viewmode=fullstory