IL - Krystal Tobias, 9, & Laura Hobbs, 8, found dead in Zion park, 8 May 2005 - #2

[golfmom]

Before he went to jail on the chainsaw incident, Hobbs was not living in the house. He was living in a car at the back of the house, and the mother was living in the house with her boyfriend. Not really the actions of a jealous man, per se as the media made him out to be.
.

Wow Mary I read that in a completely different light. I saw it as a prime example of super stalking.

Also, he may haven't wanted everyone to think he was the *better* parent, but events have proven that is not the case. I think the *better* parent is a spin ...
-he had to be taken to court to accept his responsibilities as a parent
-he didn't even pay the measly $300 bucks a month support
-he didn't value his family enough to follow through with his probation, instead choosing to spend 2 years in jail.
-he was absent from this family by his own actions most of Laura's life

Although I question a lot of Sheila's decisions, she never abandoned her children, and at least made attempts at providing them with somewhat normal lives. (girl scouts)

edited to add: Sheila will never be anyone's idea of "mother of the year" but lots of good parents lose custody battles too.

 

[SauerKraut]

Since 1990 Hobbs has been arrested 29 times for drug violations, assaults and other infractions, said Wichita Falls police spokeswoman Sgt. Cindy Walker, tapping a six-inch stack of documents on the incidents.

"I think that would be a lot for someone a hundred years old, much less someone just over 30," Walker said. "He had a terrible, violent temper."


AND....

He was charged with felony domestic assault, which was reduced to a misdemeanor.

It's a case that even veteran Wichita County prosecutor Rick Mohler said stands out.

"It's the chain saw," Mohler said. "We deal with hundreds of [domestic assaults] a year. This one's the only one I've ever seen in more than 20 years where there was a chain saw."


Umm, am I missing something here? This is my stance from the very beginning. Who the hell pleaded it down to a misdemeanor? Jerry himself?

These so -called cops and prosecutors need to have a big lawsuit filed against them.

Sheila sounds like she was an enabler to Jerry's actions and it's sad. If I'm reading this correctly, he had the misdemeanor charge for the chainsaw incident, was supposed to be going to Anger Management classes but then he moves into the car behind the house where Sheila lived. And then he stops going so he goes to jail for violating his parole. I bet she didn't encourage him to go to those classes. Probably the opposite. I would bet she was playing him against the boyfriend too, what the hell is she thinking?

The whole thing is just sickening. I see so many people who can't have children, who struggle to provide for their kids and then I see things like this. Jerry Hobbs is an evil sick *advertiser censored* who should be given the DP. However I will add that there are others that should shoulder some of the responsibility here.

Take....the....other....kids.....away.....from.....the.....mother...... :furious:

 

[marylandmissing]

Wow Mary I read that in a completely different light. I saw it as a prime example of super stalking.

Also, he may haven't wanted everyone to think he was the *better* parent, but events have proven that is not the case. I think the *better* parent is a spin ...
-he had to be taken to court to accept his responsibilities as a parent
-he didn't even pay the measly $300 bucks a month support
-he didn't value his family enough to follow through with his probation, instead choosing to spend 2 years in jail.
-he was absent from this family by his own actions most of Laura's life
QUOTE]

I see it as alcoholism at its finest...Not making excuses for himself, but almost always when a man is not paying child support it's due to an addiction. It was his lack of responsibility for not getting help. I'm not sure if the mother was any better - I have read her and Hobbs were heavy substance abusers.

Sheila from everything I read lived her life on public assistance. To get public housing, Jerry would not qualify, because you cannot have a criminal record like he did. So it would make sense that she had the kids. I have read that neighbors called social services on her in the past due to the kids unsupervised, and her intoxicated.

I am not sure "She" took him to court or social services did. Anyone who files for assistance must name the possible fathers of the child. And they take that person to court.

Think I should do more research before I make further assumptions, however...

 

[richandfamous]

Take....the....other....kids.....away.....from.....the.....mother...... :furious:

"After Hobbs' arrest Monday, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services visited Hollabaugh's remaining three children, two of whom Hobbs fathered.

"We at this point have not done anything in terms of placement of the children," DCFS spokeswoman Diane Jackson said Thursday. "But certainly our hope is the investigation will immediately get a handle on the situation, assess any imminent risk of harm to the surviving children and proceed accordingly."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...,1,4346021.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Blah blah blah, redtape, shuffle papers, pass the buck, put on back burner...well who knows, maybe this time will be different.

 

[lostfaith]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...y14,1,596594.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed

............
On Friday night, Christina Tobias and her husband, Santiago, sat on a couch near their daughter's open casket comforting each other. Krystal wore a white dress and was surrounded by teddy bears and her Girl Scout uniform.
.........

Someone needs to give the Tobias's teenage son a big hug! What a grownup role he has suddenly had to take on. They should be very proud of him. He reminds me of my 16 yr. old, who, himself has had to really grow up this year and play the father role alot. Makes me tear up thinking of her older brother greeting well wishers and making statements for the family.

 

[lostfaith]

... Alberto Segura, the couple's teenage son and Krystal's half-brother, greeted visitors and thanked them for coming. He said he was surprised by the turnout.

"I don't know even half of these people," he said. "A lot of people are touched."

Segura has had to fill adult shoes to let his parents mourn together, he said. He's played with his two younger brothers to cheer them up, greeted visitors to their home on Gilboa Avenue and handled media interviews.

He continues to struggle to understand his sister's death, he said.

"She was a sweet girl," he said before the wake. "She probably could have changed the world. We never got to say goodbye to her..."

Everytime I hear about this boy, my heart aches for him. He seems completely devastated by his sister's death. And now he has to take on the role of his parents since they seem to not be able to function in their immense pain. I don't know how families find the strength to go on after something like this. My prayers are with them.

Had not read your post yet Jersey girl, I agree with you, this older son really deserves a big hug and lots of respect for how he has handles this with the grace of an adult.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

There was an indication that Hobb's may have not known the girl's grounding had been lifted just for Mother's Day.

And his anger over the situation caused him to brutally murder his little girl and her new best friend. In fact, he stabbed his own daughter so violently that he damaged her spinal cord through a stab to the front of her neck. I don't know if this was before or after he stabbed her in each eye.

I'm shocked to hear anyone think that perhaps he was the better parent. I think that Sheila could have been a heck of a lot better as well but after years of being beaten, her return to Jerry again and again is classic behavior of an abused person. Her children should have been her first priority but through the abuse that she suffered, it's no wonder to me that she didn't behave the way a "normal" person would. I'd need a whole lot of convincing that Jerry was the "better" parent in any case.

 

[TisHerself]

I feel like I am living in the twilight zone, Better parent? he was arrested 29 times, he beat the mother up, he lived in a car on her property no less, he did not pay child support, he went after neighbours with chainsaw. His kids were there when he went after neighbours they saw him get hit with shovel they saw police arrest him. He is a drunk and does drugs, then he goes to jail for 2 yrs.

Oh yeah I see it now he is the best parent NOT.

 

[marylandmissing]

Sheesh, I did not say he was the better parent. I said persons interviewed have stated that.

 

[golfmom]

Sheesh, I did not say he was the better parent. I said persons interviewed have stated that.

I know dear that's why I said I think that it's a spin (family / friends) on what a great guy he is ... like the story he saved a cousin's life ... so we should take it easy on him. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

[golfmom]

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_3774255,00.html

worth registering. mugshots of over the last 10 years.

 

[golfmom]

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/44062.htm

Laura Hobbs was the daughter of an unemployed and penniless Sheila Hollabaugh, 29, who moved from a trailer park in Wichita Falls, Texas, to her parent's home in Zion last year.

The mom's father, Arthur Hollabaugh, said Sheila has dated Jerry Hobbs on and off since she was 16. He has served time for threatening neighbors with a revved-up chainsaw and is father to three of her four children. Classmates said Laura was afraid of her father.

Since she was 18, Hollabaugh has been visited by child-welfare officials six times, authorities said.

 

[richandfamous]

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_3774255,00.html
"A lineup of mug shots follows Jerry Hobbs through a decade of arrests in Wichita County. .....................

Mahler said Hobbs pleaded guilty to a felony but was punished as if it were a misdemeanor. Court records show Hobbs served 60 days in the Wichita County Jail."

Now tell me just how is it that Hobbs pleaded guitly to a felony stabbing and just because the victim beat hobbs up for stabbing him....the law decides to ignore the felony??????
If LE had not dropped the ball here, Hobbs chainsaw escapade would have landed him in jail for 10-15 years and Laura and Krystal would still be alive today! jmo

 

[richandfamous]

"Wichita Falls Police Sgt. Cindy Walker lifts a stack of case files on Jerry Hobbs Thursday while sitting in her office. Hobbs, who is accused in the double murder of his daughter and her friend in Zion, Ill., was well-known by local authorities and accumulated a long list of offenses while living in Wichita Falls."

Looks like the law had plenty of paper on him! Is this a case of, "Let the poor white trash kill each other off and we won't have to pay to house them."

things that make you go.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmm


http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_3774255,00.html

 

[SauerKraut]

"Wichita Falls Police Sgt. Cindy Walker lifts a stack of case files on Jerry Hobbs Thursday while sitting in her office. Hobbs, who is accused in the double murder of his daughter and her friend in Zion, Ill., was well-known by local authorities and accumulated a long list of offenses while living in Wichita Falls."

Looks like the law had plenty of paper on him! Is this a case of, "Let the poor white trash kill each other off and we won't have to pay to house them."

things that make you go.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmm


http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_3774255,00.html

This has been my point all along, who the hell let this guy off so many times? The problem is, they don't want to deal with it and to have him off on a bus the day he gets out of jail was a relief to the authorities down there because he wasn't "their problem" anymore. F&^%ers!

Sheila also sounds pathetic, but if I were the Tobias family, I would find a big fat Chicago attorney and sue the pants off the law enforcement and DA in Texas. Weak case yes, will they settle, probably? It would be sad if this case didn't reform the laws there. I hope a month from now, this is not forgotten. This pleabargaining for people like that should never happen.

I hope Krystal's brother uses this as a opportunity to do good with his life, I would hate to see something tragic happen to him after his sister's death. He certainly sounds like he has a smart, good head on his shoulders.

 

[sharon25]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0505150365may15,1,5408382.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Dressed in the crisp white dress she had planned to wear to her First Communion, and surrounded by her favorite teddy bears, Krystal Tobias was buried Saturday in Zion, after a funeral service attended by family, friends and dozens of residents.


After the funeral, Krystal's parents, Christina and Santiago Tobias, stood with their three sons and watched as the casket was loaded into the hearse. At the cemetery, the family gathered around her casket to say a final goodbye.

Christina and Santiago Tobias did not want to see their only daughter be buried and left the cemetery before her casket was lowered into the ground, Segura said.

 

[mysteriew]

It was no secret that Jerry Hobbs could be mean, especially if he'd had a few belts.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7856561/site/newsweek/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...l=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true

 

[Sheromom]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0505150365may15,1,5408382.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Dressed in the crisp white dress she had planned to wear to her First Communion, and surrounded by her favorite teddy bears, Krystal Tobias was buried Saturday in Zion, after a funeral service attended by family, friends and dozens of residents.


After the funeral, Krystal's parents, Christina and Santiago Tobias, stood with their three sons and watched as the casket was loaded into the hearse. At the cemetery, the family gathered around her casket to say a final goodbye.

Christina and Santiago Tobias did not want to see their only daughter be buried and left the cemetery before her casket was lowered into the ground, Segura said.

That breaks my heart. I just cannot imagine.

 

[sharon25]

That breaks my heart. I just cannot imagine.

I know, I sat here crying until my daughter came running up to me and asked me what was wrong. I just hugged her and held her close to me.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Looks like the law had plenty of paper on him!

Yet read this quote from a link posted above:

"It's really sad," Mahler said of Laura's and Krystal's deaths.

His office has examined actions taken against Hobbs in Wichita County.

"Did we miss something? Did we not see something? We're always looking at that to see what we could have done," he said.

He said many people have checkered criminal backgrounds that include things like domestic violence, and it's impossible to pinpoint someone's potential for future explosive violence.

"He's never exhibited any violence toward children," Mahler said of Hobbs. "We haven't seen it."

Times Record News: Local News

***********************************************************

Checkered background? Chasing people with a chainsaw and stabbing a man for squealing his tires didn't give them a clue that this guy might be dangerous?