An 8-year-old San Jose girl died after a severe asthma attack following years inside a home infested with cockroaches, mold and pet feces, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said this week. Her mother and stepfather now face felony child neglect charges.
Prosecutors say Gabrielle Hanson, 32, and Jacob Randolph, 39, knew their home was dangerous and had been warned repeatedly by medical professionals and social workers about the risks to their seven children. When their daughter, Aurora Williams, began experiencing serious medical distress in May, the couple allegedly waited eight hours before seeking help.
“It was too late,” prosecutors said in a news release.
More than a year before her death, in February 2025, a relative took Aurora to an emergency room after she showed asthma symptoms, wheezing and difficulty breathing. A bug fell from her shoe and a cockroach was seen crawling on her. “Oh yeah, bugs just crawl on me,” she told staff. Hospital workers also noted she smelled like cat urine, looked underweight and pale, and said she was hungry and hadn’t eaten.
On May 13, 2026, San Jose police and firefighters responded to the family’s home for a medical emergency involving a child. Social workers removed six other children, ranging from 2 months to 17 years old, into protective custody. Aurora was declared dead four days later.
The medical examiner found Aurora died from a lack of oxygen to the brain caused by severe asthma and an acute lung injury tied to a viral infection, with medical neglect identified as a significant contributing factor. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators determined Aurora and her siblings had lived in “squalid and dangerous conditions” since at least 2019. Her asthma equipment had not been properly maintained, and her prescribed inhaler was missing during two searches of the home. Investigators also found a dirty inhaler spacer missing the rubber seal meant to stop medication from leaking, and a respiratory mask containing cockroaches.
“Another child is needlessly dead in this county, and once again our prosecutors will do everything in our legal power to hold the people who did this responsible,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Prosecuting people after this kind of tragedy is necessary – and not enough. There are serious questions about how this child and her siblings lived in this dangerous squalor for so long. In the name of this lost child and the others, this community deserves honest answers and real changes.”
The investigation also produced child sexual abuse charges against Aurora’s maternal uncle, Jonathan Hanson, 44, involving another child who lived in the home. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of molestation and one count of possessing explicit videos of the alleged victim, who was between 11 and 15 years old at the time. Gabrielle Hanson was separately charged with knowing about the alleged abuse and failing to intervene.
All three defendants were arraigned Tuesday. Gabrielle Hanson and Randolph were released under supervised own recognizance over prosecutors’ objections, while Jonathan Hanson was ordered held without bail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
