Is this the face of a child murderer?
God, I hope not. Yes, that place in my heart that holds out that people are generally good wants to believe this man did not kill his own daughter and her best friend. But police have arrested him and filed murder charges according to Fox News.
The ex-con father of a little girl who was beaten and stabbed to death with her best friend on Mother’s Day is under arrest and will be charged with first-degree murder.
Jerry Hobbs, who has an extensive criminal history and was released from a Texas jail just last month, stabbed his daughter, 8-year-old Laura Hobbs, and her 9-year-old schoolmate, Krystal Tobias, repeatedly in the neck, Illinois state attorney Mike Waller said Tuesday.
Jerry Hobbs has a lengthy record and a rocky relationship with his daughter Laura’s mom.
Hobbs has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1990 in Texas, including prior arrests on assault and resisting arrest charges, according to records kept by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Records also show Hobbs had a rocky relationship with Laura’s mother, Sheila Hollabaugh. Hobbs had been arrested in 2001 after arguing with her, grabbing a chainsaw and chasing other residents around the Texas trailer park where they lived, according to Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Rick Mahler. Someone eventually subdued Hobbs by hitting him in the back with a shovel, Mahler said.
Hobbs was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to 10 years probation, but he failed to appear for his required meetings, so his probation was revoked in 2003 and he was imprisoned until his release on April 12, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
It distresses me that a man like this, striking the fact that he probably murdered his own daughter, could be the father of a child. Hell, he is no father - more like a sperm donor. Keanu Reeves’ character in the film “Parenthoodâ€� says it best.
"You need a license to drive a car, even to fish, but any asshole can be a parent."
A place in my heart wants to hold out hope that this father did not ruthlessly slay his own daughter and her best friend. Kids should be able to play together on a warm day, having fun, no worries in the world. The LAST thing they should worry about is their own parent wishing to inflict harm on them. What has this world come to?
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Merri, Zion is 15 minutes away from my mother's house. She lives in the next town. I was back in Illinois for Mother's Day weekend and I feel weird because on Mother's Day, we were actually in that area driving around. It feels so odd and I feel so badly for the families that lost these two little girls. I'm sad they had to lose their lives. I actually didn't find out 'till I was off the plane in Boston when my best friend called me as I was walking off the plane. My mother's coworker and her coworker's sister live in the neighborhood of Laura Hobbs and she said these two girls were inseparable, that it's going to be hard to let her kids run about after this has happened, even though they caught the person who did it [and they hope it's actually him].
Thank you for posting this.
(Happy belated Mother's Day)
Emma - it always amazes me how small the world actually is. I can't say it enough - I'm absolutely floored that someone would actually contemplate and actually make a decision to kill a child - especially their own! I look into the eyes of my children and all I see is unconditional love. They love so much without asking for much in return. I could never, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, think of harming them. This is not even something I can pretend to comprehend.
Merri. No joke this stuff is hard to read and both infuriates me and breaks my heart at the same time.
I like what Clint Van Zant said on the news last night regarding this scumbag. He said, "we don't put a rabid dog in rehabilitation, we put him down and that's what we need to do with this monster". Not sure if he used the word monster or not.
And what is up with the mother taking him back after he gets out of prison? What, she didn't have enough of him chasing her around with a chain saw? Hello?!
Thanks for posting.
Oh and duh oh my part, I finally have gotten around to adding you to my blogroll. I don't know where I have been.
I, too, loved Clint Van Zant's position on this. I don't think there's a lower place to be than to murder your own child (other than to also murder her best friend). I can't believe the mother took him back, knowing his past.
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll, you are on mine as well. 
